Other 10 M lei in Chisinau City Hall's account frozen

Other 10 million lei in the accounts of the Chisinau City Hall have been frozen by the Justice Ministry's bailiffs, after blocking all the accounts of the local executive branch last week, Info-Prim Neo reports. Legal Direction chief Diana Gurschi told the City Hall's morning session Monday that a writ in this respect was issued on October 8. Because of freezing the accounts, 20 functionaries cannot lift their remunerations for September. According to Diana Gurschi, they are negotiating with the bailiffs to unfreeze 2 salary accounts. “They have recognized the salary is guaranteed by the state, and blocking those accounts was illegal and they agreed to unfreeze them,” Gurschi added. She sued the freeze writ. According to a senior accountant of the City Hall, Ana Slivca, there is no problem now because of the blocked accounts, but they will emerge by the end of October, when bills and salaries will have to be payed. The daily cash flow of the City Hall is some 1 million lei so those 36 blocked by bailiffs would curb the Hall's work for 3 years ahead. Mayor Dorin Chirtoaca says applying the sequestration is a thing “absurd and outside the powers of the Mayor's office” and asked his accountants to talk over the situation every service supplier to avoid possible problems. The City Hall concluded contracts with entities to organize the City Day on the basis of guarantee letters, as they are to be payed when the accounts are unfrozen. Sequestering 7 accounts of the Chisinau City Hall a week ago was called by Hall officials as an illegal gesture, since the freeze is related to decisions adopted by the Municipal Council not by the City Hall. The Justice Ministry explains the sequester by not carrying out writs obliging the Municipal Council to provide dwellings to a number of law-enforcing officers and a decision of the European Court of Human Rights.