The Socialist councilors on the Chisinau Municipal Council initiate a referendum to find out the opinion of the residnets of the capital city about the fate of the Republican Stadium. According to them, the selling of the former site of the Stadium to the U.S. Embassy for the construction of a new Embassy Compound by “the regime of Plahotniuc” in 2018 represents “covert bribe”, IPN reports.

In a news conference given in front of the Stadium, councilor Victor Polyakov said the Socialist councilors decided to constitute an initiative group for organizing the referendum. The group will start to collect the necessary signatures - at least 10% of the number of citizens eligible to vote. A period of 30 to 60 days from the official registration of the initiative group is offered for collecting signatures.

Councilor Dinarii Cojocaru noted the right of ownership over the Republican Stadium should be decided by referendum. According to him, only sports and cultural facilities should be erected on that site.

Alexandr Odintsov said the Republican Stadium was built in 1951 and a number of generations of famous athletes in time set records there. That site has not only sports importance, but also historical and cultural importance for Chisinau.

According to the councilor, in 2018 the regime of Plahotniuc adopted the law to transfer the lot that is 5.18 ha in area to the U.S. Embassy for the construction of a new Embassy Compound there. This was “covert bribe” given by Plahotniuc to the Americans for “buying” their loyalty to his regime. When it was in power, the Party of Socialists repealed the given law, but the Constitutional Court annulled the abrogation of the law.