The former president of the Liberal Democratic Party (PLDM) Vlad Filat, ex-Premier, said the leaving by Alexandru Tănase and Mihai Godea, who then held the posts of vice presidents of the party, formed part of a scenario aimed at weakening his positons as the then government coalition was in an unhealthy state given the disproportionate support offered by society in the parliamentary elections of 2010, we holding 32 seats of MP, while the Democrats and the Liberals only 27 seats together. “I believe this attempt not to allow someone to have greater success was part of this scenario,” the politician stated in an interview conducted in Penitentiary No. 13, where the former Prime Minister is serving his nine-year sentence for passive corruption and influence peddling.
The position of Prosecutor General was sold for €2M back in 2009, when Valeriu Zubco was appointed to the job, claims the former ex-prime minister Vlad Filat in his first ever prison interview. According to Filat, Zubco’s candidacy was nominally proposed by Serafim Urechean, president of the now defunct AMN party, but he knew Zubco was in fact Vlad Plahotniuc’s man. “After meeting with them, I phoned the American Ambassador. We could talk at very late or very early hours if there was any emergency. I broke the news to him. He said this was very serious, but in the end it was for us (within the coalition) to sort it out,” said Filat.
Former Prime Minister Vlad Filat said Sergey Yaralov, who is close to the ex-leader of the Democratic Party of Moldova Vlad Plahotniuc, designed the bank fraud, while Ilan Shor was the main beneficiary of this, followed by Vlad Plahotnic.He noted his involvement in the bank fraud was political and cannot be classed as criminal. “I didn’t do what I ought to for these things not to happen. A lot was to be done then,” he stated, adding he knew things went badly, but didn’t act to prevent the endangering of Moldova’s European course.
Former Premier Iurie Leancă didn’t fully understand the essence and consequences of the provision of state guarantees in the case of the theft of the US$ 1 billion, while another ex-Premier Kiril Gaburici was against this solution identified by others, stated former Prime Minister Vlad Filat, ex-leader of the Liberal Democratic Party. As regards the provision of state guarantees for filling the gap in the banking system, Vlad Filat said a meeting was held at the State Residence with the involvement the then President Nicolae Timofti, his adviser Ion Păduraru, the then Premier Iurie Leancă, him, Vlad Filat, the then Parliament Speaker Igor Corman and Vladimir Plahotniuc, who didn’t manage the Democratic Party at that time. The initiative to consider the offering of guarantees came from Iurie Leancă, but the relevant explanations were provided by Vladimir Plahotniuc. Iurie Leancă didn’t fully realize the size and consequences of such an action and acted as he was explained to act.
Ex-prime minister Iurie Leancă has been subpoenaed to appear next week, alongside former members of the central bank leadership and MPs, before Parliament’s inquiry commission investigating the $1B bank fraud. This was announced by the commission’s chair MP Alexandru Slusari. Updating reporters, Alexandru Slusari said the commission plans to complete the hearings by the end of July. “Beginning next week, we intend to hear people that were involved in decision-making at the highest level. This includes certain MPs, the former leadership of the National Bank, Iurie Leancă and other people, who, legally speaking, took some decisions or failed to take decisions despite being expected to,” said Alexandru Slusari. On Vlad Filat’s latest interview with TV8, Slusari commented that the former prime minister revealed “nothing new or particularly useful” and that some revelations contradict the information possessed by the inquiry commission.
The works to build the Ungheni-Chisinau gas pipeline on all the seven sections have started, Romania’s Ambassador to Moldova Daniel Ioniță informed through a social networking site. The contracts for the procurement of works that will be performed on the seven segments of the Ungheni-Chisinau gas pipeline were signed by Transgaz this April. The project envisions the building of a 120 km long natural gas pipeline, two gas stations in Chisinau and one station in Ungheni and the outfitting of the dispatcher’s and coordination center in Ghidighici.
The high-level political dialogue with Brussels has been resumed quickly by Prime Minister Sandu. The credibility of the new government has removed any old barrier. The composition of the government, made up of diaspora professionals and civil society, and for the first time dominated by women, had an additional positive effect, political scientist Dionis Cenuşa says in an analytical article for IPN Agency. According to him, although the EU has never ruled out that it will cooperate with a government, which includes the Democrats, the establishment of the coalition between ACUM and the Socialists has been a relief for Europeans in many ways, comments the political scientist. On the one hand, he opines that the European institutions can re-establish and deepen the dialogue at a political and technical level without Democrats more quickly and easily than with those in power. EU’s experience with this party was probably the most difficult in the region, and it also ended with attacks on the image of the European institutions, concludes Dionis Cenuşa.
Thanks to recent progress made by the current Moldovan government, the European Union is looking for ways to accelerate the process of resuming financial assistance for Moldova that has been frozen because of shortcomings of the previous government. This was announced by Johannes Hahn, European Commissioner for Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, after meeting with Moldova’s Foreign Minister Nicolae Popescu in Brussels. Johannes Hahn announced that Chisinau will receive a first tranche of €14.5 million in budget support in the coming days, followed by a yet to be determined second installment relatively soon. Meanwhile, the more substantial macro-financial assistance could be resumed at the beginning of autumn, when a first tranche of around €50 million could be granted. A second one, of about the same size, could follow in the winter.
Details on IPN.
