Regulations on carriers cancelled after long debates

The regulations concerning passenger and baggage transportation by road was abolished after several hours of debates in the Chisinau Municipal Council on Thursday. Many claimed the document did not comply with the legislation, Info-Prim Neo reports. A number of local councilors accused Oleg Onishchenko, chairman of the commission for designating route administrators, of using the regulations for personal interests. Deputy mayor of Chisinau Nistor Grozavu said the commission worked behind closed doors and this fact dissatisfied the economic entities that participated in the contest to name new route administrators. In addition, the examinations showed the regulations contain at least 16 violations of the legislation. Gheorghe Brega, councilor of the faction of the Liberal Party (PL), implied that the members of the commission exerted pressure on the contestants. “All the administrators are called to your office in turn. They go out perspired and say that they have never been asked bribes in such amounts,” Brega said, addressing to Onishchenko. The president of the PL faction Mihai Ghimpu said that the members of the commission, most of whom are municipal councilors, organize the contest instead of the executive and this shows that personal interests and profits are pursued. Several councilors demanded that the document is suspended, questioning the way that it was adopted by the Municipal Council and the integrity of the commission that is composed of 10 municipal councilors and the head of the Public Transport and Communications Division. For his part, Oleg Onishchenko denied the accusations. He said that the commission worked transparently and that he personally invited no contestant to his office during the contest, despite requests. He also said that the regulations are designed to rectify the situation in the area of transport. One of the commission members, councilor Valeri Climenco also denied that they had taken bribes. In the end, the regulations were cancelled by a majority vote. All the decision of the commission will be appealed to court.