The cobblestones discovered on August 31, 1989 street in the capital remain the bone of contention between the Chisinau City Hall and the Ministry of Culture. While the municipality says that it has sent all the necessary documents to the ministry and is waiting for the approval of the National Council of Historical Monuments to start the rehabilitation works, the ministry officials say they have not received any documents, IPN reports.

While the two institutions are passing the buck, the section between Alexander Pushkin and Metropolitan Gavriil Banulescu-Bodoni streets has turned into a parking lot. Drivers leave their cars on that historic stretch every day.



According to the Ministry of Culture, after the approval in March 2024 of the project draft, the designer and the Chisinau City Hall were to prepare the execution project and submit it to the National Council of Historical Monuments for approval.

To date, the Ministry of Culture announces that it has not received any request from the designers or the Chisinau City Hall to examine the implementation project.

On the other side, Chisinau City Hall informs that it has sent the necessary documents to the ministry.

"The project was submitted by Chisinau Project, but this commission of historical monuments is not in a hurry to examine and receive the opinion on the project. When we have the project's opinion, the project is designed, the tender is launched. There are processes. The commission does not work and does not put our project on the agenda. Without the ministry's opinion, we will not be able to proceed with the rehabilitation of this street," said Deputy Mayor Ilie Ceban.

The 31 August 1989 street went under capital repair at the beginning of April 2022 and will be fully reopened for traffic by the end of 2023, except for the section between Alexandr Pushkin and Mitropolit Gavriil Banulescu-Bodoni streets. During the works, in March 2023, an old cobble dating back to the 19th century was discovered. This discovery aroused the interest of the authorities and heritage specialists, leading to the temporary halt of the works for evaluation and historical documentation. The area was preserved until a solution for its valorization could be found.