Head of the National Cultural Center “Luceafarul” of Novosibirsk, Russia, Dumitru Pogorea in a news conference at IPN said that owing to the hindrances placed in the way of Moldovans who want to return home and start businesses, they got the impression that the government wants to keep the Moldovans away from their homeland because these are those who support the national economy by remittances.

Dumitru Pogorea said that a group of representatives of the Moldovan diaspora, not only from Russia, but also from other states, expressed their wish to take part in the electoral race for the 2018 parliamentary elections so as to change things.

“When coming home on visit only, everything looks fine, but when you start a business you meet with a multitude of obstacles,” said Dumitru Pogorea, noting three are created artificial obstacles to starting businesses. “I have the feeling that the authorities do not want those who left to return home. Most of those from the diaspora share this opinion. We proposed exempting us from paying taxes if we start businesses and eliminating the exaggerated inspections, but nothing was done,” he stated.

Dumitru Pogorea also said that all those from the diaspora welcomed the creation of the Bureau for Diaspora Relations, but the support offered by this is not the expected one. The diaspora would like to study the mother tongue while in Russia, but the Bureau does nothing to provide a teacher there and national artists are not sent to the festivals organized by Moldovans,” said the head of the National Cultural Center “Luceafarul”.

He noted that the cooperation with Moldovan ambassadors working in Russia is difficult. When there are problems related to the Moldovans working in Russia, nobody answers the phones at the embassy and those from the diaspora do not have the necessary support.