HAPPENING THIS WEEK

Greetings from Chişinău! Here’s what’s happening this week: we feature a story on the Prosecutor General’s sudden decision to verify the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office, an institution that handles notorious cases involving financing of the Socialist Party, currently in power, the billion-dollar theft and the money laundering schemes of fugitive tycoon Vladimir Plahotniuc. In editorials, ZdG comments on the public return of former leader of the Democratic Party, Vladimir Plahotniuc, in national and international press. In weekly investigations, we analyze the energy crisis and the risk to start 2020 without natural gas and energy supplies. All of that and more in this week’s newsletter. Happy reading!  

THIS WEEK’S FEATURE

CONTROLLED JUSTICE: After the new Prosecutor General took office at the end of November, he initiated questionable controls at the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office suspending the head of the Office along with the interim head of the Prosecutor’s Office for Combating Organized Crime and Special Cases. Considering the acts of Prosecutor General Stoianoglo a flagrant violation of the legislation, which could also interfere with the progress in the cases managed by the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office, Morari asked the court to suspend the execution of the Prosecutor General regarding the controls, but the court rejected his appeal. While analyzing the events that take place ZdG observed that the Prosecutor’s General actions raise suspicion, especially when the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office is managing many notorious cases, one of which related to the Socialist Party’s money coming from Russia. Justice sector reform is one of the core conditions for Moldova’s financing agreements with the U.S. and the European Union. 

FROM THE EDITORS

PROSECUTOR’S RESIGNATION: Two weeks after entering office the Prosecutor General, Alexandr Stoianoglo, takes suspicious controls at institutions that have an independent status, and makes controversial declarations regarding the Kroll 2 Report, questioning the correctness and accuracy of the facts presented by the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office regarding the case of the stolen billion. Although Stoianoglo promised at the interview, while in the contest for the Prosecutor General position, to investigate the bank fraud, during the two weeks of his activity in this position he showed no interest in the stolen billion case, and when asked to present the report, he said he had no time to read it. ZdG’s Editor-in-Chief Aneta Grosu wonders if Stoianoglo took office to cover up the investigation in the bank fraud case, as all his actions lead to this conclusion. 

PLAHOTNIUC IS BACK: In June 2019,  the bloggers and the social media posters supporting the former leader of the Democratic Party went silent without saying anything for several months, only resuming their old rhetoric in the beginning of this autumn. And similar phenomena occur in the foreign press. ZdG’s Executive Director Alina Radu states that this means Plahotniuc is back. Former lobbyists of Vlad Plahotniuc have begun to reappear on various American yellow pages, presenting him as a politician whom Moldova needs, who shed his own blood for European values, defending Moldova from the largest possible danger – Russia’s attacks. Apparently, Plahotniuc signed contracts with American lobbying companies to promote his image. The effects of this image clearing will be felt in Chișinău. For now, the former Democratic leader intends to buy TV channels in Romania. TVs that can also be watched in Chișinău. And they could soon tell the story of a so-called martyr politician. 

THE FOREIGN BRIEF

RISING INEQUALITY: Moldova loses more than 10 percent of human development progress due to persisting inequalities. The United Nations (U.N.) together with the National Bureau of Statistics will release a poverty index in early 2020, which could help authorities to improve the living standards and narrow the gap between the poor and the reach. At the same time, the United Nations Development Fund in Moldova offered some policy recommendations which will contribute towards diminishing the inequality level in the country. 

VENICE COMMISSION: The Venice Commission adopted a preliminary opinion regarding the amendments to the Law on the Prosecutor’s Office, made in July and September 2019. The Commission mentions that the changes to the Law from September couldn’t impact the independence of the Prosecutor General. At the same time, the Venice Commission acknowledges that sometimes a legislator can interfere with the selection process of a Prosecutor General to prevent compromised persons from entering the office. In early November, the government led by Maia Sandu was ousted after Sandu’s move to get more powers for the Executive in the Prosecutor General’s selection.

MOLDOVA-EBRD: Moldova will receive a $50 million credit from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, as a financial safety net to help Moldova secure gas supplies for the coming winter in case of an emergency, enabling Moldova to buy gas supply from the national oil and gas company in Ukraine. Moldova relies heavily on gas from Russia and has no storage for the fuel. The country faces the risk of disrupted supply if Russia and Ukraine fail to extend the gas transit agreement that expires on December 31, 2019.
 

ZDG INVESTIGATES

MOLDOVA WITH NO GAS: Moldova is searching for ways to avoid a catastrophic situation during the Winter if Ukraine and Russia fail to reach an agreement over the natural gas transit contract expiring this year December 31. In Chișinău, the experts and the opposition parties are concerned about the increased risk of the country to remain without gas and electricity starting with January 2020, while the government urges the citizens to remain calm. While following the events ZdG found out that although the authorities mention the Trans Balkan pipeline which will be used in reverse regime to supply the country with gas, they didn’t mention anything about the gas price, or if any contracts have been signed. 

FORMER DEPUTY ON INTERPOL LIST: Interpol announced an international search for the former Democratic Party deputy Constantin Țuțu. Previously, the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office investigated Ţuțu for influence peddling. On September 27, the Chișinău Court issued a 30-day arrest warrant in his name, albeit in absentia since the former deputy fled the country on June 2019. According to the accusation, Țuțu allegedly asked for and took 20,000 euros from the relatives of a man arrested in the autumn of 2017, promising to influence the prosecutors responsible for the man’s case. Țuțu and the former leader of the Democratic Party Vladimir Plahotniuc were also accused in a drug trafficking case in Russia. 

PLAHOTNIUC IN ROMANIA: Moldova’s authorities requested the General Anticorruption Directorate within the Romanian Ministry of Internal Affairs, to identify the location of the former leader of the Democratic Party, Vladimir Plahotniuc after he was seen in Iași, a city in Romania, this October. The National Anticorruption Center in Moldova also mentions that it has made requests to the United Kingdom and the United States embassies to Moldova regarding Plahotniuc’s whereabouts. The fugitive oligarch is incriminated in a case of money laundering, the authorities announcing him in international search in October this year. 
 

MOLDOVA IN WORLD NEWS

A QUIET TAKEOVER: After the pro-Western government abruptly collapsed in November, a new one came to office, leaning firmly towards Moscow. Russia quietly took back control of Moldova, a country where endemic corruption, miserable economy and the lure of better-paid jobs in the European Union drive people out of the country. Russia’s aspirations in this corner of Europe are nothing new, The Economist writes. Russia is flooding the country with fake news and money, while Western governments run sessions on democracy and human rights.  

MONETARY POLICY CHANGES: Moldova’s National Bank cut the monetary policy rate to around 5 percent, aiming to help the government finance next year’s budget deficit from the local market even in a situation of discontinued foreign financing, Iulian Ernst writes for bne IntelliNews. Previously Moldova’s Prime Minister mentioned that the country could take a break in its relation with the International Monetary Fund if the later one doesn’t show flexibility. The deep monetary policy cut was the Bank’s first decision after the Socialist Party along with the Democratic Party ousted the pro-European government, led by Maia Sandu. 

SPOTTED THIS WEEK

ACCESS TO MEDICINE: Moldova among the first countries in the World Health Organization European Region to pilot MedMon, a new mobile application that improves the availability and reduces the price of medication. Fifteen percent of Moldova’s households are affected by financial hardships, due to out of pocket money paid for medicines.  

FOREIGN AFFAIRS COUNCIL: During the meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council of the European Union Romania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs assessed the situation in Moldova and requested a strict conditionality approach towards the government in Chișinău. E.U. is an important partner for Moldova, since July 2019, Moldova benefited from €58.89 million in grants and loans as budget support from the E.U. 

HUMAN RIGHTS DAY: A National Public Dialogue on Human Rights in the educational system took place in Moldova, on December 10, the day on which human rights are celebrated worldwide. Students and young people presented their ideas regarding the integration of human rights in the educational system. Moldova has been working to implement a human rights education curricula since 2010.