Bashkan Yevgenia Guțul is indignant that she was not allowed to participate in the founding meeting of the Regional Development Council of ATU Gagauzia and was not included in its composition as the governor of the region. In her opinion, this is another unusual case, which proves the discriminatory attitude of the government towards ATU Gagauzia.
“At the end of last week, Minister of Infrastructure and Regional Development Andrei Spînu held in the Government Building the founding meeting of the Regional Development Council of ATU Gagauzia, to which only a few “elected” mayors from ATU Gagauzia were allowed, whom the PAS considered welcome. At Spînu’s direct instruction, they didn’t allow me to attend the meeting. You witnessed this show. Initially, they allowed me to enter the building, but didn’t allow me to attend the meeting,” Yevgenia Guțul stated in a press conference at IPN.
The governor noted that she must form part of the Regional Development Council of ATU Gagauzia and she cannot be prevented from attending the meetings at someone’s whims. “In addition to everything, I, as the governor of ATU Gagauzia, have an own vision on the projects that are to be implemented in Gagauzia. As a rule, these projects are financed with money from the Regional Development Fund and co-financed by Gagauzia’s budget, namely with contributions from local budgets,” said the Bashkana.
“I understand why Spînu does not want me to take part in the Regional Development Council, namely because this will make it easier for him to appropriate projects worth millions, without inspections and without reports. This is within the remit of the responsible bodies and I’m sure that very soon they will clarify things,” stated Yevgenia Guțul.
Chairman of the People’s Assembly of Gagauzia, Dmitry Constantinov said that the Bashkan must be designated head of the Regional Development Council of ATU Gagauzia and this is what the law stipulates, but this is ignored by Minister Spînu. “This is disrespect for Gagauzia because the Bashkan was elected by the majority of the population of Gagauz. And in no court the insinuations that the election was not fair were demonstrated. They decided to form a parallel body so that the Bashkan could not make decisions. Our mayors were also there, but none of them could tell the minister that he was breaking the law,” stated Dmitry Konstantinov.
Comrat district head Vadim Ceban said that he attended the May 24 meeting held in the Government Building. The composition that was approved is illegal. The first meeting was set to take place at the Comrat mayor’s office on May 2 and was to be attended by the Bashkan. For so-called technical reasons, the meeting was postponed. The location of the meeting was changed in order to restrict the Bashkan’s access to the meeting. Although, according to the law, Yevgenia Guțul has the right to participate, she was not allowed to enter. The entire meeting was politicized by Minister Spînu, who made multiple unfounded accusations.
The head of Comrat district said that they do not recognize the legitimacy of the Regional Development Council of ATU Gagauzia, will not participate in meeting and will not consider legal the subsequent decisions. “This Council cannot function without the Bashkan of ATU Gagauzia,” noted Vadim Ceban.
Note: IPN Agency offers the right of reply to persons who consider themselves targeted in the news made from the statements of the organizers of this press conference, including by facilitating the organization of another press conference under similar conditions.
