Moldovan Authorities Again Faced the “Plahotniuc Factor”

Simeon Albu Official Chisinau’s another attempt to “reach” the fugitive oligarch failed leading to a major scandal The end of the previous working week was marked by Interpol (just to recall: the International Criminal Police Organization) headline news, which almost immediately evolved into a scandal. The organization’s file control commission refused to include the former leader of the Democratic Party of Moldova, Vlad Plahotniuc, on the international wanted list. Moreover, it was decided to remove information about him from the INTERPOL databases due to the fact that “the storage of information about the Applicant is incompatible with the obligation of Interpol to ensure effective cooperation between the police authorities in the spirit of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights”. Though, no reasons for refusing to put on the wanted list were given. “Since the commission did not specify the reasons for its decision, the General Prosecutor’s Office will appeal to the International Police Cooperation Office within the General Police Inspectorate with a request to explain the reasons for the decision to refuse to declare the defendant on the international wanted list. Depending on the answer, the Prosecutor’s Office will decide how to further respond in the appropriate way,” the press release of the Prosecutor General’s Office of Moldova said. The department said that the investigation will continue to collect evidence showing that Plahotniuc violated the law and caused serious financial damage to the country. It is pretty obvious that Interpol’s decision disappointed the Moldovan authorities. The head of state was clearly unhappy, speaking on the air of one of the TV channels, and even assumed that “someone wants to provide Plahotniuc with a “geopolitical cover” that will be used against the current president.” Igor Dodon reproached the American partners for a certain “cover-up” of the oligarch and said that “a very cautious attitude from the American authorities looks strange.” He also admitted that the US protects Plahotniuc because the former DPM leader may provide some discrediting information against the president ahead of the autumn elections. Interpol’s decision does look strange on many grounds. However, when looking into the circumstances in which it was adopted, many questions arise not only to international partners, but also to Chisinau itself. As we know, the Commission for the Files Control includes several countries: the USA, Russia, Moldova, Finland and Angola. It is headed by the Moldovan representative, Vitalie Pirlog, a native of Nisporeni, ISS ex-head and Plahotniuc’s protege. He took up his post in the Commission during the autocratic oligarch’s rule in 2017, and retained it even after the regime had fallen. Moreover, Pirlog was successfully re-elected in March 2020. According to the procedure, Moldovan and Russian the representatives could not vote in the Plahotniuc case, since criminal cases were opened against him in these countries. At the same time, according to sources, the Americans advocated a positive (for the oligarch) decision on this case and persuaded two other members of the Commission to take it. In this light, the decision of the latter looks more than natural - and there is nothing surprising that exactly this outcome was predicted by some experts familiar with the situation a month ago. So, theoretically, Plahotniuc can now safely travel around the world (except Moldova and Russia, of course), without fear of being persecuted. And the Prosecutor General’s Office, which back in January firmly promised to have “discussions with Interpol high-ranking officials” and submit all the necessary documents in this case, may take away a point from its karma. Alongside the cover-up in Interpol, Washington protects Plahotniuc on its territory, delaying the consideration (and the more so - the approval) of the applications filed by Moldova for Plahotniuc’s extradition to Moldova. Let us remind you that a month ago the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Republic of Moldova sent a package of documents to the US competent authorities demanding the extradition of Plahotniuc for proceedings in the Republic of Moldova, but things are still where they started. Even despite all the loud declarations of the State Department. The results of this whole story look disappointing for Chisinau. The Moldovan authorities have repeatedly failed in their attempt to reach Plahotniuc, who, even overseas, continues to win over his opponents. Remaining out of his Moldovan enemies’ reach, the PDM ex-leader continues to successfully implement various schemes and combinations, in which the pro-European opposition was involved so far. Another important point in this story is the oligarch’s “cans” (as the president put it), taking many key positions both in the republic’s state apparatus and in its representations in various international institutions. As you can see, there are still a lot of such characters, and at the right moment these “sleeping agents” can wake up and work well for the benefit of their master. The fact that such people take their seats, even a year after the “anti-oligarchic revolution”, once again evokes sad thoughts about the professionalism and operational skills of the current Moldovan authorities. And most importantly: despite all the Washington’s criticism of Plahotniuc and the promises of the US Ambassador Dereck Hogan, the oligarch feels quite at ease in the United States, where he still has many allies in the American establishment. The Interpol’s decision, the delayed extradition and other factors clearly show that the United States will never hand over to Moldova its “ex-boss” until his potential for achieving American goals in our country is fully used. Perhaps, sooner or later, Vlad Plahotniuc will happen to be returned to Moldova – most likely, at later date and not in the status of a defendant.