The Central Election Commission (CEC) considers the treatment of banks of electoral contender Violeta Ivanov, who runs for President on behalf of the Shor Party, is critical in character. The Commission considers disadvantageous conditions are created artificially and the legal provisions stipulating that the contenders take part in the campaign in equal conditions and benefit from equal rights in the use of means are violated.

The CEC asked the Parliament’s commission on economy, budget and finance and the National Commission for Financial Markets to examine the created situation and to enable all the electoral contenders to fully benefit from the legal rights in the funding of the current electoral campaign.

In a reaction statement, the National Bank of Moldova said the decisions to initiate, continue or terminate the business relationship with a client are taken by banks independently, depending on the risk associated with the client and the transactions of this. The decisions should be taken in accordance with the current regulations on the prevention and combating of money laundering that oblige the banks to take precautionary measures in the relations with their clients and to conduct a risk-based analysis of these relations.

In a news conference, the Shor Party accused the banks of Moldova of refusing to open accounts for the election campaign of candidate Violeta Ivanov.