Officials of the Chișinău Court of Appeal (CA) claim that the accusations launched by the representatives of the company “Avia Invest” have a “declarative and subjective character, being formulated with a single purpose, that of influencing the public opinion” about the situation in the file on the concession of the Chisinau International Airport.

At the same time, according to the court, “the accusation of the representatives of Avia Invest S.R.L., who claim that by their actions, the judges are participating in a “raider attack” on the company, since the judges of the court are examining the merits and legality of the decision of the court, having no interest whatsoever in the resolution of this dispute, is also of a declarative, unsubstantiated and subjective nature”.

“We also disregard the accusations launched by the representatives of the “Avia Invest” S.R.L. regarding the fact that all cases involving this company are assigned to a specific judge, in this regard, it is imperative to mention that all cases and applications received for examination at the Chisinau Court of Appeal are subject to automatic random distribution through the Integrated Case Management Program, excluding the human factor, and therefore, intervention in this process (…). During the briefing of 21 November 2022, the representatives of “Avia Invest” S.R.L. also invoked that in other cases with its involvement, more distant deadlines were granted for examination, the only case examined in restricted terms being this civil case, but these allegations are also unfounded. In that connection, it should be noted that the dispute brought by Avia Invest S.R.L. against the Public Property Agency was heard in appeal proceedings on 21 July 2022, which is why the hearing of the case was set for a shorter time-limit, the other cases brought before the Court being heard much later.

The allegations that Avia Invest S.R.L. did not have the opportunity to present evidence at the hearing of the case in the order of appeal are also unfounded, just as the appellant did not submit any request for the submission of new evidence relevant to the case, all the requests submitted by 18 November 2022, concerning the challenge of the members of the panel, the transfer of the case to another court of equal rank, the postponement of the hearing, the suspension of the case, the raising of the objection of unconstitutionality. On this occasion, the Court points out that under Article 206(2) of the Rules of Procedure, the Court of First Instance may (5) of the Code of Civil Procedure, the court may postpone the trial once at the justified request of the participant in the proceedings in connection with the non-appearance of the representative of the participant in the proceedings.

In the circumstances of the case, the representative of Avia Invest S.R.L. availed itself of this right by submitting a request for postponement of the hearing to 5 October 2022. The Court respects the right of citizens to freedom of expression, but reminds the representatives of Avia Invest S.R.L. that, when they exercise that freedom, they must do so in compliance with the legal framework and, if they make accusations which essentially concern facts, they must present evidence confirming those accusations. The Court emphasizes that the process before the court in the case in question is conducted in accordance with the principle of adversarial proceedings and the principle of equality of arms in the process, principles inherent to the right to a fair trial, and all the accusations launched by the representatives of “Avia Invest” S.R.L. are of a subjective nature, being launched either with the aim of influencing public opinion regarding the case pending before the court, or with the aim of delaying the examination of the case”, a press release of the court states.

On Monday, 21 November, representatives of the company “Avia Invest” issued a statement in which they made several accusations against the judges of the Chisinau Court of Appeal Anatolie Minciună, Ecaterina Palanciuc and Veronica Negru, who are examining the criminal case. Thus, the company’s representatives stated that “the judges are participating in a raid against the Airport concessionaire”.

“(…) The airport administration draws the public’s attention to the way this high-profile case is being examined. The speed with which decisions are made by these judges is absolutely unacceptable and violates any legal rules. The scheduling of hearings by the Judges on the case, Anatolie Minciună, Ecaterina Palanciuc and Veronica Negru in record time, without giving the opportunity to prepare the defence, without giving the lawyers advance notice is a flagrant violation on this file.

Another extremely worrying fact is that all the complaints filed by Avia Invest in court, at least five in number, are all examined by the same judge – Ecaterina Palanciuc, who is also a member of the panel of judges examining the Avia Invest appeal. The Avia Invest administration warns that the representatives of the concession company have only one request to the state institutions and judges: to be allowed to defend this case in accordance with all legal norms and laws of a democratic state,” the press release reads.

On 3 August, the Ministry of Justice announced that the Arbitral Tribunal of the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce (Sweden) has issued its final arbitral award in the international arbitration case initiated on the arbitration request of 15 May 2020 of Komaksavia Airport Invest Ltd (R. Cyprus) against Moldova, rejecting the claim of Komaksavia Airport Invest Ltd and determining that Komaksavia Airport Invest Ltd has no investment in Avia Invest SRL under international law. At the same time, the Arbitral Tribunal ordered Komaksavia Airport Invest Ltd to reimburse Moldova the amount of approximately €216 thousand for legal representation costs.

By the Request for Arbitration, Komaksavia Airport Invest Ltd requested the Arbitral Tribunal, in the main, to oblige Moldova to continue the execution of the Concession Contract of the assets under the management of Î.S. “Chișinău International Airport” and the land related thereto as of 30 August 2013 or, alternatively, to oblige Moldova to pay it compensation in the estimated amount of 883 700 000 euros for the alleged expropriation of the investment chosen in connection with the Concession Contract.

Komaksavia Airport Invest Ltd, which owns the majority of the assets of “Avia Invest”, which manages Chisinau International Airport, has previously stated that the decision of the Arbitral Tribunal of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce, which rejected the company’s claim against Moldova, will be appealed to the Swedish High Court. At the same time, Komaksavia described the announcement made by the Ministry of Justice as “a manipulation of public opinion” and the decision of the Arbitral Tribunal of the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce as “unfounded and politically motivated”.

Subsequently, Justice Minister Sergiu Litvinenco said that the arbitral ruling of the Stockholm, Sweden, tribunal is a “final ruling” in the arbitration case initiated by the company Komaksavia Airport Invest Ltd against Moldova on 15 May 2020, and another ruling in this arbitration case “cannot and will not be issued”.

According to the minister, the final decision of the Arbitral Tribunal concluded the arbitration case. In this context, Litvinenco announced that the MoJ has sent an official request to the Komaksavia company for “the voluntary payment of the 216,678 euros that the Arbitral Tribunal decided”.