Transdniestrian refugees afraid of losing apartments intended for them

The internally displaced people from Transdniestria occupied the unfinished block of flats located on Ginta Latina Street in Chisinau, which was built for them, for fear that the police could misappropriate them. Anatolie Bazgu, head of the Movement of Transdniestrian Refugees, told Info-Prim Neo that members of the Movement have guarded the building for four months. According to Bazgu, after returning from the funeral of a Dniester war veteran on August 22, the Movement’s members found the block guarded by police officers, who blocked the entrance to the building. The conflict degenerated into an altercation between the families of the refugees and five policemen. In the end, the refugees occupied the block and decided to guard it until the construction is complete. The Mayor General of Chisinau Dorin Chirtoaca traveled to the place and, according to Bazgu, threatened to bring more policemen to take them out of the building. The threat was not carried out because the refugees warned they are ready to fight with the police, Bazgu specified. As Bazgu said, there are 160 families of refugees that need dwelling, including 83 families that have already been issued with warrants for receiving apartments. Moreover, the court sequestrated the respective block banning the local public authorities from distributing these apartments to persons that are not refugees. Nevertheless, Bazgu said, there were incidents when different persons tried to occupy the apartments by force. The Movement of Transdniestrian Refugees intended to picket the City Hall on August 27 as the local authorities did not provide the necessary money to finalize the construction. According to Anatol Bazgu, the City Hall refused to authorize the picket even if the mayor general promised to authorize all the protests in the capital city. He said that he cannot say if the picket will take place, because now they intend to guard the block. Sergiu Polihovici, head of the Chisinau Mayor General’s Cabinet, told Info-Prim Neo that the mayor only insisted that the given law is observed, otherwise any person could occupy what, how and when he/she wants. He said that the refugees did not have the right to occupy the building because there is no distribution order yet. According to Polihovici, the house was also occupied by people that earlier received plots of land and dwelling from the City Hall, and this is at least incorrect towards “the thousands of refugees” waiting for apartments in the Chisinau municipality. Polihovici said that the police took action after they were informed by the contactor carrying out the construction works on the block that a group of people surrounded the building. As regards refugees’ declarations that the police officers intended to occupy the apartments, Polihovici said that this is “pure policy and attempt to mislead the public”. Asked about the City Hall’s refusal to authorize the picket of August 27, Sergiu Polihovici said that any hostile manifestation on the Republic’s Day can serve as good reason for refuse. Nina Stratulat, head of the Social-Humanitarian and Interethnic Relations Division, said that the City Hall will instead authorize the picket of the City Hall planned by the refugees for August 30. According to the Chisinau press, the commissioner of the capital city Eugen Axentiev said that the police do not need this building. They were ordered not to allow foreign persons to occupy the block by force. The construction of the building started in 2005. The block has 80 apartments. The cost of the building works is assessed at 33 mln lei. The Government said that an additional 3 mln lei is needed to finalize the block, promising to cover 50% of the sum. Yet, the City Hall specified that a sum of about 9.2 mln lei more is needed, not 3 mln lei. Also, the Government said that it will pay the 1.5 mln lei if the works are completed by September 1. Therefore, it is not known if the City Hall manages to do this, because no additional money was planned in the budget and the new expenditure estimate must be approved by the Chisinau Municipal Council, which is now on holiday.