Moldovan PM says current cabinet not to allow privatizations like of bus terminals or Chisinau International Airport

Chisinau, 20 June /MOLDPRES/ - Prime Minister Maia Sandu, in the beginning of a today’s cabinet meeting, asked the Public Properties Agency (APP) to undertaken all legal actions, in order to suspend all illegal and non-transparent processes of privatization and asked civil servants to cease committing corruption acts, the government’s communication and protocol department has reported.  

,,Those who did their job correctly and legally should continue in the same way. Yet, I also have tougher messages for those who were dealing with illegal things, who helped the former regime committing all kinds of corruption acts, illegal privatizations: stop doing this. I address the public institutions which presently started making procurements worth millions of lei, especially APP, which continues making non-transparent privatizations – my order is to stop, to find legal ways through which all these transactions, illegal privatizations, are ceased. This government will not allow privatizations just as it happened with the bus terminals, at the Chisinau International Airport or the Air Moldova Company,” Maia Sandu said. At the same time, the PM stressed that a commission for investigating the privatization processes had been created in parliament.   

The prime minister also demanded that decision-makers from Posta Moldovei (Moldova’s Post) fulfill their contractual commitments in relation with the written media institutions, as well as start an investigation, in order to find the guilty persons, who hindered the distribution of periodical publications and citizens’ access to information. In this context, Maia Sandu noted that Posta Moldovei had been involved in various processes of smuggling, including with anabolics and asked to start the process of dismissing the institution’s leadership.    

At the same time, the prime minister referred to the defective management of the enterprises Moldtelecom and Metalferos Ltd, which were managed to the detriment of the state and citizens. Sandu mentioned also the MoldovaGaz stock company, which on the last days would have spent over million and a half of lei just to purchase luxury cars.  

At the meeting, the prime minister also informed that the general state secretaries and state secretaries who would have participated in the electoral campaign of the Democratic Party, without reducing their job duties, were to be dismissed. A draft law to this end was registered in parliament. The draft proposes amendment of the legislation, so that the state secretaries are no longer civil servants, but public officials. “Those who did not infringe the law and proved that they are good professionals have all chances to remain in office,” Maia Sandu said.  

Also today, the cabinet of ministers approved a string of dismissals from office of more leaders of public institutions, based on their own applications. Thus, the following officials were dismissed from office: Government’s Secretary General Lilia Palii, director of the Public Properties Agency, Vladimir Baldovici, the secretary general of the Interior Ministry, Semion Carp, as well as the director general of the National Food Safety Agency, Ion Sula.   

At the same time, the government ruled to recall Cristina Balan from the post of Moldova’s Ambassador to the United States, according to the application submitted. 

In the end of the meeting, the PM asked the ministers, heads of agencies to prove maximum of openness to the media. “This government has nothing to hide. All things we do are for citizens and the citizens, through the media, must know what the government is doing,” Maia Sandu added.