Micauti Quarry owners to file 250 mln lei defamation suit

Representatives for the Micauti Quarry deny the accusations that the company was behind the death threats against Micauti Mayor Ion Nicolaev and say they will initiate defamation proceedings to ask 250 million lei for non-pecuniary damage. Constantin Sary, member of Micauti Quarry’s Board, told a news conference on Wednesday that the company will donate this money to the budget of Micauti town if the court satisfies the claim. He further said that he will demand public apologies from Mayor Nicolaev and MP Dumitru Braghis, whom he considers to be responsible for the embarrassing situation currently going on in Micauti. Eugen Sary, Constantin Sary’s brother, doesn’t rule out the possibility that Dumitru Braghis may have acted in the interests of a third party. He claims that the purpose of this conflict is to get rid of all the members of the Sary family, like it happened to his father. In his words, the contract killing of his father was arranged by Vasili Iovv, a former top Government official, who was a business partner of the victim and who is trying to get his finger in every pie possible, including to take over the Micauti Quarry. The two brothers say that the elimination conspiracy has two possible outcomes: either they will be murdered, and the blame will be put on Mayor Nicolaev, like it happened in the case of their father where attempts were made to scapegoat the president of a Vulcanesti-based winery, who had been in conflict with the victim, or the mayor will be assassinated, and they will be arrested for murder. During a Parliament sitting on November 29, MP Dumitru Braghis requested the Prosecutor’s Office to initiate investigations into the death threats of the Micauti Mayor. Ion Nicolaev has told reporters that the owners of the Quarry stole a 94 million lei piece of rock from the land that was not under their concession and that the death threats against him originated from the fact that he tried to get compensations from the company for the damages brought to the community budget. Ion Nicolaev has also said that, following this conflict, he became the victim of a couple of fabricated charges. The stone pit located in the vicinity of Micauti town was privatised in 2004. The owners say they invested millions to make it profitable and to pay taxes of some 10 million lei each year.