The Law on Capital Liberalization, if it is adopted, will pose an increased risk to the Republic of Moldova, even greater than the penal amnesty in Romania, which generated mass protests in the neighboring country. Such a conclusion was formulated in the talk show “Politics” on TV 7 channel, IPN reports.
Economic analyst Victor Ciobanu said this bill is aimed at legalizing the US$1 billion stolen from banks, whose return was made the people’s burden. “The stolen US$1 billion has to be legalized somehow and this could be done by those involved by paying a symbolic tax. The way is paved for this law to apply not only to the Moldovan oligarchs. Simultaneously, a bill to amend the Law on Nationality was drafted. Any foreigner will be able to take Moldovan nationality if they deposit US$1 million in a Moldovan bank. This way, foreign citizens will also be able to legalize money of a suspicious origin. Despite the criticism, I don’t think they will give up this bill. It will be rather modified, but will be anyway adopted,” stated Ciobanu.
Ex-minister of finance Veacesalv Negruta also said that ill-gotten gains could be legalized through the Law on Capital Legalization and the Law on Nationality. “This law has nothing to do with capital legalization. Other goals are being pursued. The Filip Government announced that the privatization of some state-owned companies in 2017 will be accelerated, while foreign investment will increase by 30%, which is an exaggerated figure. It is rumored that these laws will favor businessmen from Arabic countries, who will be able to legalize dubious gains in our country and will then profit from the visa-free regime to legalize these in Europe,” he said.
