Mihai Ghimpu on first visit to presidential residence in Holercani

Acting President and the Head of Parliament Mihai Ghimpu visited the presidential residence in Holercani ten months after he was invested. Accompanied by journalists, Mihai Ghimpu made a tour of the residence, played billiard and the piano, and staged a barbecue, Info-Prim Neo reports. On Saturday, May 29, Mihai Ghimpu visited the presidential residence for the first time. The complex in Holercani is 64 hectares in area and comprises 18 houses, including the villas of the Head of Parliament, the Prime Minister and of the ministers. Mihai Ghimpu asked the head of the complex Efim Palma why he did not invite him to pay a visit earlier. Palma answered he was always glad to receive guests. There are two presidential houses – a two-story one that includes two bedrooms, a dining-room, a kitchen and a billiard hall and and a building that is laid out according to the state etiquette. Mihai Ghimpu expressed his disappointment when he saw that the two fridges were empty. He said he would like to stay in Holercani sometimes as the air there was so fresh. Efim Palma said the former Premier Vasile Tarlev visited the complex most often, while the current Prime Minister Vlad Filat was there only two times, but did not rest there. The former head of state Vladimir Voronin was coming to the complex with his family once in eight months, but never stayed overnight. Among the current ministers, only Minister of Defense Vitalie Marinuta came to the complex to rest, two times. Efim Palma said 3-4 million lei a year is needed to maintain the villas. “Neither the former, not the present administration allocated the amounts we asked. We hope we will get at least 1 million lei this year,” he said. He also said that every ministry pays the rent from their own budgets, while the public utilities are paid by the ministers themselves. Seventy-three persons look after the villas at present, as against 100 earlier. Some of them abandon work as the salaries are only 600-700 lei a month, Efim Palma said. The residential complex in Holercani was built at the end of the 1950s. During the Soviet period, it was one of the most preferred residences of the dignitaries. While Petru Lucinschi had headed the country, the villas in Holercani were being leased out to businessmen. In 2001, the complex was reconstructed and started to be again used by dignitaries.