PAS Is Seizing Moldova’s Bus Stations. What For?

Christian RUSSU

Amid obvious problems in railroad and Chisinau airport administration, the state authorities are forcefully seizing car stations and bus terminals from private investors. A risky move in the run-up to the elections, but the ruling regime has its rationale

On August 19, the Public Property Agency, controlled by Andrei Spinu, issued an order to forcibly return bus stations to the state under the pretext of “failure to fulfill contractual obligations” by a private investor. A total of 30 bus stations were instantly brought under control of an ad hoc governmental commission. To gain control over the assets, special agency involved law enforcers who suddenly and brazenly appeared in the office of the management company Gările Auto Moderne.  No wonder the whole operation resembled a 90s-style raid, of which the officials were accused. The moment when the seizure took place was not accidental. August 20 marked exactly two years since the Public Property Agency set the deadline for the assets of Gările Auto Moderne to be returned to the state. Therefore, everything was presented as a “willful” decision of the authorities to close the issue of their seizure from the structures affiliated with Ilan Sor. Consolidation of the right-wing electorate by showing intolerance to the continuing influence of Mr. Sor in the country, displaying determination to external partners in the run-up to the pre-election visits of high-ranking European guests, motivating party clans with another opportunity for enrichment – this appears to be the main set of bonuses for PAS and the team supervising the president’s election campaign. Needless to say, the ruling party once again failed with its clumsy actions to formalize the return of the objects to state ownership, strictly following the letter and spirit of the law. Incompetence, stubborn refusal to admit their mistakes, clumsy methods – all this has long become a shameful reputation for the PAS and their appointees. Obvious blunders of the Public Property Agency, which undertook the right to judge the improper fulfillment of contractual obligations by the investor, the involvement of commercial banks and private insurance companies associated with high ranking officials, lead to protracted litigation. Yet, let’s be frank, there was nothing to prevent the authorities from starting the process of “return of property”, as officials call it, or “expropriation of assets”, as investors say, much earlier. The public-private partnership project between the ruling party clans and Ilan Sor’s structures was successfully developing all these years, bringing income to both sides, and acceptable quality services to citizens. The appearance and infrastructure of many bus stations under Gările Auto Moderne’s management have indisputably been upgraded. At least, I personally have never come across reports in the top news about people complaining about the quality of service and abuses. Which, by the way, is not the case with the state-run enterprises and companies. The total mess at the capital’s airport is a vivid illustration of this. The hours-long standing in the open air, excessively prolonged control and clearance procedures, impossibility to catch a flight even if you arrive on time are already the norm. Only memories remain of the small, cozy but still efficient airport with the international code KIV. Likewise, the promises from the authorities to turn the railroads into a modern and convenient transportation network for local and international travel, as well as to end the shameful practice of months-long salary delays for railroad employees are now only a memory. It looks as if everything served this purpose – solid funds were received to renovate infrastructure and rolling stock, Moldova became part of programs to modernize trans-European corridors, and its transit potential was much debated after the outbreak of war in Ukraine. In reality, the unpaid wage debts to 5,000 employees since March exceeded 150 million lei. Without waiting for “air castles” from PAS, 700 employees in five months have already left the enterprise in search of a better income. It is very doubtful that the authorities will administer bus stations in a different way, with no queues, no untimely payment of wages, no delays, broken buses, etc. After all, even the government admitted, clearly with a hint at reselling the seized strategic assets, that “the state is the worst possible administrator”. However, now it is the officials who will have to “bring order” to the national bus stations in the coming months. What threat does that pose? Given the fact that public road transport is the main transportation means for the majority of residents, the expected chaos in the industry will lead to a further increase in the anti-rating of the ruling regime and personally of Maia Sandu. Do the political technologists of the president take these risks into account? I assume that not only do they take them into account, but also oppose with both hands such impromptu actions, which may increase the discontent of the electorate. But it seems that a strong force is driving those who make such decisions here and now. Perhaps it is fear – fear of seeing crowds of disgruntled people in front of the buildings where they have been sitting for the past years. These citizens can travel to the capital only by buses. The experience of the protests organized by Ilan Sor and his supporters proved that with proper technical capabilities it is not a problem at all to gather thousands of people in the right place who want to express their dissatisfaction with the authorities and demand their resignation. Probably, some PAS activist remembered the tactics of a well-known proletarian leader with his famous “seizure of means of communication and railway stations”. And, guided by these precepts, the former Soviet activists who are now the glossed “pro-Europeans” have set about the banal takeover of car stations in Moldova, particularly to further immunize their rule from possible manifestations of street democracy.