The Party “Action and Solidarity” (PAS) demands that the Ministry of Economy and Infrastructure should make public a number of documents on the privatization of Air Moldova. In a news conference on October 11, leaders of the PAS said the documents should be published so as to understand where the airline’s dubious debts that were used as an argument for privatizing the company come from, IPN reports.
PAS president Maia Sandu said the way in which the privatization took place generates concerns. The company that won the commercial contest was founded not long before the privatization. Also, the price at which the airline was sold is very low.
PAS vice president Mihai Popșoi wondered why the state didn’t probe the problems that appeared at the company following the accumulation of debts the past fewer years. There are suspicions that Air Moldova will follow the fate of the Chisinau International Airport that found itself in the hands of the mayor of Orhei Ilan Shor after being privatized.
Sergiu Litvinenco, a member of the PAS National Stranding Bureau said the Ministry of Economy and Infrastructure should present the financial reports of Air Moldova for the past three years, the audit reports, the list of the members of the administration board by indicating the period during which they worked, the copy of the financial situations, the copy of the sale and purchase contract, the privatization report and the document by which the whining company confirms its capacity to invest, and should answer why individual projects weren’t chosen as a concept for the privatization procedures as the process would have been more transparent.
In parliamentary hearings on the privatization of the airline, Vitalie Iurcu, secretary of state at the Ministry of Economy and Infrastructure, said Air Moldova reached a critical situation in 2012, when it sustained losses of 72 million lei. When low-cost companies entered the Moldovan market, its losses continued to rise and came to 227 million lei in 2015. The situation worsened further owing to the rise in the prices of oil products and the company began to experience a series of problems. On the other hand, the six-plane fleet is 20 years old. Two of the planes are owned by Air Moldova, while four were acquired in leasing.
Vladimir Baldovici, director general of the Public Property Agency, said the decision to privatize the company was taken in a move to make sure the company fulfilled its contractual obligations towards the partners. Eurocontrol also warned about the debts and the flights to the European airspace could have been any time stopped. Poor maintenance kept the planes on the ground and the company had to rent foreign aircraft to honor its obligations. In the commercial contest, only one bid was registered by the September 4, 2018 deadline.
The contest to privatize the state-owned company Air Moldova was won by Civil Aviation Group SRL. The company was founded in August 2018 and has a subscribed share capital of 500,000 lei, being 49% owned by Blue Air Aviation and 51% owned by two Moldovan citizens.
