Sandu-PAS Regime Causing Mayhem with the Western approval

Anton ŠVEC

Having received guarantees from the United States and the European Union, the regime of Maia Sandu continued with redoubled vigor to usurp state institutions and establish control over all profitable assets of the country, easily resorting to proven practices of the Plahotniuc era 

Last week, former prime minister and presidential candidate Vladimir Filat once again criticised Maia Sandu and called for a change of power: “In order for things in Moldova to return to normal and for problems to start being solved - it is necessary to bring competence to power.” The opposition politician recalled that even during the communist era, members of his liberal democratic party could head various institutions in the country - universities, hospitals and educational establishments. Now, he said, any leaders not affiliated with the ruling party “will be kicked out immediately if found in such a position.” Filat raised the issue of nepotism and politicization of the activity of public institutions, provoked by the PAS regime and testifying to the anti-democratic nature of the current government. Irina Vlah, the former Bashkan of Gagauzia and another possible rival of Maia Sandu in the upcoming autumn elections, went further and demanded the dismissal of the president, who, in her opinion, grossly violated her oath of office: “She has not defended democracy and fundamental human rights and freedoms. Because of her decisions, we got the most anti-democratic and shameless leadership in the government in the history of independence. Sandu’s team has established a dictatorship in the country when basic human rights, from freedom of speech to freedom of association, are violated.” One can hardly argue with the conclusions of Irina Vlah and Vlad Filat, except that their calls for a change of power and impeachment will not lead to the desired result either. The key point of the recent visits of high representatives of the United States and the European Union to Chisinau was to grant an absolute carte blanche to the regime in the conduct of domestic policy, provided that the anti-Russian geopolitical vector is maintained and Maia Sandu receives a second presidential mandate. Antony Blinken, Dirk Schubel and in addition Boris Pistorius have made it clear that the end justifies the means and the West will turn a blind eye to any anti-democratic practices of the regime as long as it demonstrates stability and full foreign policy loyalty. The signs of the Western curators were perceived by the authorities with gusto and transformed into quite concrete steps for further usurpation of state institutions, agencies and spheres of the economy. The prompt appointment of the Prosecutor General, in fact in a directive, dictatorial regime, is a vivid example. The competition, conducted with scandals and irregularities, brought Ion Munteanu, acting Prosecutor General, who suited the regime - Maia Sandu signed the decree instantly, after which the new-old prosecutor was sworn in on his day off. The case reminded in many respects of the night meetings of the government during the “captured state” period, which also resulted in controversial appointments in ministries and state enterprises. Octavian Iachimovschi from the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office, who won the first legal competition and was involved in a scandal with the vetting commission and indirectly with the PAS team, was eventually left out. The scandal with the Prosecutor General became a “black swan” for Vladimir Plahotniuc, but Maia Sandu and her team, enjoying Western patronage, are not particularly worried about historical parallels. Regarding the governmental activity, the regime can now directly justife itself with “valuable instructions” from the West, because Antony Blinken personally authorized not to appoint the current Bashkan of Gagauzia, Evghenia Gutul, as a member of the executive body. This is an unprecedented case in the history of Moldova, but is obviously does not bother Sandu, as long as there is diplomatic advocacy of “big brother”. The current authorities are ruining the country’s economy - small enterprises are closing down every day, foreign investors are leaving the Moldovan market, various industries with foreign capital are shutting down, people are unemployed. Gross domestic product growth is forecast to be minimal, but inflation and accumulation of government debt are occurring. In order to overcome the catastrophic budget deficit, the government resorted to another economic practice actively used during the period of the “captured state” - the foundation of proxy firms with a monopolistic position in the market on the basis of state-owned enterprises. A five-member specialized commission (with two decisive votes of NGO representatives on Western grants) awarded the status of tax monopolies to three companies with state capital - Moldelectrica, Energocom and Metalferos. The principle of their operation will be as elementary as possible - for example, Energocom will buy electricity from MoldGRES on the left bank of the Dniester and sell it to household consumers and enterprises with a surcharge. The profit will be partly allocated to the budget, and partly be distributed among the members of the board of directors, consisting of government officials and NGO representatives. The most acute issue that caused unrest in the professional environment concerns the Metalferos enterprise. The government is preparing a decree giving the company a monopoly position in the scrap metal market. The document envisages a ban on the import of raw materials to Moldova by any economic agents, except for Metalferos. It also stipulates the obligation of all domestic scrap collectors to sell raw materials to Metalferos, which will then sell them to the Moldova Steel Works plant located in the Transnistrian region or to external markets. At the same time, the monopolist will independently determine the purchase prices, which can be up to 30% lower than the market prices, as well as the final cost of the scrap, which according to the proposed formula must necessarily be higher than the market one. Thus, the state-owned intermediary company, without conducting serious economic activities, will be able to generate a margin of up to one third of the cost of raw materials (at current market prices over 100 euros for each ton of scrap metal), which will go to the budget or in favor of the so-called company’ board, consisting entirely of government officials - the head of the Prime Minister’s office, representatives of the ministries of economy and finance, as well as the public property agency. This is a fraudulent scheme disguised as the interests of the state with a reseller company. The patronage association of scrap collectors has already accused the government of hindering free competition and violating European Union norms. Meanwhile, the scheme proposed by Dumitru Alaiba’s ministry largely uses the practices of Plahotniuc’s era, when Metalferos also had a dominant position in the market and favored a number of officials. But even at that time, the import of scrap metal from foreign countries was not restricted in any way, the monopoly only concerned the domestic market of billets. Obviously, the violation of free market principles will not bother anyone from the Western community, especially if Chisinau explains the need for additional money with the interests of Maia Sandu’s election campaign. The hijacking of economic assets and institutions is taking place amid the banning of opposition political parties, the closure of undesirable media outlets, the failure of justice reform, the restriction of dissent and the formation of an anti-democratic regime, in fact a PAS dictatorship. Maia Sandu’s electoral ambitions have resulted in Moldova becoming a usurped state in which institutions, agencies and businesses are captured and administered (usually abysmally) exclusively by a party kleptocracy. This principle, as Vlad Filat aptly put it, excludes any possibility of competent governance and leads the country into the abyss.