Oligarch Vladimir Plahotniuc, who at the end of May was sanctioned by the EU for attempts to destabilise Moldova, has sued the Council of the European Union. The former leader of the Democratic Party of Moldova (PDM) is seeking the annulment of the decision imposing restrictions on him, as well as recovery of legal costs. The case was registered on 9 August, but was published in the Official Journal of the EU on 25 September 2023.

Specifically, Vladimir Plahotniuc is asking the EU Court of Justice to annul the EU Council decision of 30 May on restrictive measures aimed at destabilising Moldova and the regulation implementing the decision. The lawyer representing Plahotniuc’s interests in this case is Jason Pobjoy, who has “particular expertise in EU and competition law, public and human rights law, trade law and public international law”.

“In support of the action, the plaintiff relies on two grounds:

First plea in law – manifest errors of assessment in finding that there was a sufficiently strong factual basis for finding that the criteria for inclusion of the applicant on the list referred to in Article 1 of the contested decision and Article 2 of the contested regulation were met.

Second plea in law – infringement of the applicant’s rights under Article 6 in conjunction with Articles 2 and 3 of the Treaty on European Union and Articles 47 and 48 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union,” reads the summary published in the Official Journal of the EU.

On 30 May 2023, EU foreign ministers adopted a decision sanctioning Ilan Șor, Gheorghe Cavcaliuc, Marina Tauber, Vladimir Plahotniuc and Igor Chaika for countering destabilising actions in Moldova, under the new EU sanctions regime, created at the proposal of the Romanian foreign minister.

“1. Ilan Shor is a Moldovan politician (leader of the Shor Political Party) and businessman who is accused of involvement in illegal financing of political parties in the Republic of Moldova and inciting violence against the political opposition. The ȘOR party, which Ilan Șor leads, is involved in paying and training people to cause disorder and disturbances during protests in Moldova.

2. Gheorghe Cavcaliuc is the former deputy chief of the General Inspectorate of Police of Moldova. He is known for organising and participating in the violent protests of 20 October 2022 alongside Ilan Shor. He used his police connections to recruit former police officers and created a paramilitary group to “protect” violent demonstrators. He founded a so-called “shadow government” to replace the democratically elected government of Moldova.

3. Marina Tauber is a member of the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova on behalf of the Shor Party. She has been indicted in the “Bank Fraud” case and is being investigated in two criminal cases related to illegal financing by an organised criminal group and falsification of the report on the financial management of the Shor Party.

4. Igor Chaika is a Russian businessman responsible for directing money in support of Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) projects aimed at destabilising Moldova. He has played the role of a Russian “bagman”, channelling money to FSB assets in Moldova to bring the country under Kremlin control.

5. Vladimir Plahotniuc is the subject of numerous criminal proceedings in Moldova for offences related to the embezzlement of Moldovan state funds and illegal transfer outside Moldova. He has been indicted in Moldova in the “Bank Fraud” case, the economic effects of which are still affecting the country. He is also under investigation for bribing the former president of Moldova with a bag of money in exchange for political favours,” the EU document says.

The decisions on restrictive measures include a travel ban, a freezing of funds and economic resources, and a prohibition on making funds and economic resources available to natural and legal persons, entities or bodies responsible for actions or policies that undermine or threaten Moldova’s sovereignty and independence.

Also under the Ukraine sanctions regime, but for actions with a destabilising effect in Moldova, the leader of the Party of Regions of Moldova Aleksandr Kalinin and the President of the IFAVIS Foundation Grigore Caramalac were sanctioned.

Vladimir Plahotniuc left Moldova in June 2019 after the party he led, PDM, handed over the government to a coalition formed by the ACUM Bloc and PSRM, which broke up in November 2019.

Vladimir Plahotniuc’s Swiss villa has been seized, Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office chief Veronica Dragalin announced, noting that she received confirmation recently.

The Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office announced in mid-July that the criminal case against Vladimir Plahotniuc had been sent to court for examination on the merits, with charges of creating and leading a criminal organisation, fraud and money laundering.

According to the evidence, in the period 2013-2014, Plahotniuc Vladimir, being the beneficial owner and manager through intermediaries of some companies, received and benefited from financial means in the total amount of approximately 18 282 000 dollars and 3 518 705 euros, “of which he knew with certainty that they came from illicit sources, being obtained from fraudulent bank loans granted by BC Banca de Economii S.A., BC Unibank S.A. and BC Banca Socială S.A., to companies of the “ȘOR” group”.