More ex – officials heard in parliament upon privatisation of Air Moldova

Chisinau, 03 September /MOLDPRES/ – The Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry of the analysis of organisation and conduct of privatisation and concession of public property (2013 – 2019), held hearings in a new case regarding the sale – purchase contract of company Air Moldova, on Tuesday, 03 September.

The hearings lasted about 04 hours, during which more ex – officials answered questions from commission. Among the heard ones are ex – secretary of state at the Ministry of Economy and Infrastructure (MEI), Vitalie Iurcu, ex – minister of MEI, Octavian Calmac, ex-director of the Public Property Agency (APP), Vladimir Baldovici, ex – secretary of state at the Ministry of Finance, Veronica Pricop, ex – secretary of state at MEI and former chairman of the board of administration of Air Moldova, Serghei Bucataru, general director of Air Moldova, Iulian Scorpan, ex – PM Pavel Filip, ex – Minister of Economy, Chiril Gaburici, and representatives of Blue Air and Civil Aviation Group companies were invited to hearings, but they have not attended them.

After hearings, the chairman of the commission of inquiry, Igor Munteanu, has declared that privatisation of Air Moldova was "an inefficient, non – transparent and illegal exercise, because there were violated the basic principles of denationalisation of public property". "We can see that almost a year after privatisation, its purpose was not reached, and the method of privatising through contest selected by authorities was illegal," said Munteanu. He has added that under these terms, MEI must verify, through a complex audit, the status of funds invested in this privatisation contract and fulfillment of contractual liabilities assumed by buyer.

According to Munteanu, in 2018, the authorities decided to privatise the company "under non – transparent conditions and at a dizzying speed, which generated many questions in the company". Also, since 2014, there is no independent audit report on financial statements of Air Moldova, even though they have been contracted and paid. "The company was not ready for privatisation. The decision of the seller to privatise it was not preceded by restructuring measures. The valuation of company was carried out with derogations from legal framework, thus the quality of evaluation influenced the price with which the company was put up for sale. The privatisation method was chosen through commercial contest. The election was decided with deviations and it is illegal, because the privatisation of public property assets of special importance for economy is carried out through individual projects”, pointed out Munteanu.

The source added that almost a year after privatisation of company, the situation of Air Moldova has not improved essentially. Thus, according to accounting info transmitted to APP, until 31 July 2019, the sum of debts of company has not undergone any basic changes, and the new owners have not attracted any MDL from their own resources or long – term financing.

Former director of APP, Vladimir Baldovici, told at the hearings that before privatisation, Air Moldova had debts of MDL 1.3 bln, the company being practically insolvent.

The full report on this subject will be prepared by the commission of inquiry within upcoming 15 days.

Moldovan company Air Moldova was acquired in autumn 2018 by the Romanian company Civil Aviation Group S.R.L., in a commercial contest, announced by APP. The value of the sale – purchase transaction exceeded the amount of MDL 1.2 bln, of which the amount of MDL 50 mln was transferred to the state budget (BS), the rest of the amount represents the debts of company Air Moldova, which the investor obliged to pay. The company Civil Aviation Group SRL was founded by a group of investors, the largest share being owned by the internationally renowned company Blue Air.