What Gagauz MPs Ask the President of Moldova For

Regional elected representatives of the Gagauz autonomy ask President Maia Sandu not to sign the Tax Code changes adopted by the parliament, which provide for VAT refunds from the autonomy’s budget. In their opinion, this provision will further worsen the relations between Chisinau and Comrat. The representatives of the People’s Assembly of Gagauzia (PAG) said that after the amendments to the Tax Code, the autonomy’s budget will not be able to collect even 100 million lei. “We believe that the only beneficiary after the enactment of these modifications to the Moldovan Tax Code will be politician Ilan Shor, who favours the deterioration of relations between Chisinau and Comrat,” Deputy Chairman of the National Assembly Alexandru Tarnavschi said. Local MP Serghei Cimpoes said that politicians from the autonomy who cooperated with the fugitive oligarch Ilan Shor, who was sentenced to 15 years in a bank fraud case, are to blame for the deterioration of relations between Comrat and Chisinau. “They say that the Bashkan of Gagauzia and the chairman of the People’s Assembly are poorly visible. We have been notified about this. The central authorities refuse to have any dialogue with the people of Gagauzia. This has never happened in the history of Moldova,” says the PAG deputy, Serghei Cimpoes. The draft law on VAT reimbursement from the Gagauz autonomy budget, not from the national budget, was approved by the parliament in final session last week. PAG representatives demanded that the law be returned for consultations, and if this didn’t happen, they would appeal to the Constitutional Court.