The former Minister of Defence and director of the Security and Intelligence Service, Valeriu Pasat, arranged the kidnapping of the vice president of the Christian-Democrat People’s Party, Vlad Cubreacov, stated Boris Asarov, president of the Transnistria-based NGO “Pro Europa”, at a news conference today. In his words, after Pasat left the post of the intelligence service head, he lived for a short period in Tiraspol, where he interacted with Vladimir Antiufeev, the minister of state security of the breakaway republic of Transnistria. Cubreacov’s kidnapping was plotted by the duo and carried out by Antufeev’s secret agents in Chisinau, Asarov said. He went on to add that in the fall of 2002, Chisinau and Moscow had come to some agreements on the Transnistria settlement. However, the situation disfavoured Tiraspol. Meanwhile in Chisinau the Christian-Democrats were holding protests against the Communist government. By spring, the rallies started losing momentum as Tiraspol was strongly interested that the situation on the right side of the Nistru remained tense to allow the Transnistrian leaders more time for negotiations with Moscow. And kidnapping Cubreacov seemed to be the best solution for achieving that goal, the cited source said. Asarov further stated that the topic was raised again for two reasons. First, to destroy the Christian-Democrats, and second, to mislead the investigation in order to classify the case as unsolved and scapegoat the Prosecutor General’s Office. Boris Asarov claims that behind the scheme are persons close to the President, but not the President himself. Asarov maintains that he learned this information from top officials in Tiraspol and that he gave testimony on the case at the Prosecutor General’s Office. Cubreacov disappeared on 21 March 2002 in the middle of round-the-clock rallies staged by the Christian-Democrat People’s Party in downtown Chisinau. Two months later Cubreacov was found near a village on the Nistru. Whereas the Christian-Democrats and Cubreacov himself maintain that the Russian secret services were behind the abduction, the authorities in Tiraspol claimed they had evidence proving President Voronin’s involvement. Recently, to ex-members of the PPCD alleged Cubreacov’s kidnapping was a popularity-bolstering scheme by PPCD.