The limited liability company “Avia Invest”, which manages the Chisinau International Airport, “admitted non-fulfilment of the obligations assumed under the concession contract, which are circumscribed by the need to present the guarantee of good execution”, concluded the Chisinau Court of Appeal, according to the reasoned decision of the court.

At the same time, according to the judges, in order to ensure the public interest, the Public Property Agency “correctly ordered the termination of the concession contract in order to prevent or remove serious disadvantages that prevent the common welfare of all citizens of the Republic of Moldova”.

“The court also disregards the arguments of the appellant, who claimed that through the illegal and defective administrative activity carried out by the Public Property Agency, Avia Invest S.R.L. was harmed in its right to full security and protection of investments and, as a consequence, in its right to respect for property, as the concession contract was terminated due to the failure of the concessionaire to submit the guarantee of good performance in the amount of EUR 1 000 000, valid for 3 years.

Nor can the appellant’s arguments that the Public Property Agency did not comply with the minimum requirements of legality of the administrative activity carried out be upheld, although the documents in the case clearly confirm that the concessionaire was notified of the non-performance of the obligation laid down in Article 19(2) of the concession contract and granted the concessionaire sufficient time to provide the guarantees provided for in the contract.

The appellant’s arguments that the Public Property Agency acted in bad faith in issuing the notice of termination of the concession contract are also unfounded (…).

The panel also rejects the appellant’s allegations concerning the alleged failure of the Public Property Agency to comply with the provisions of Article 33.1 of the contract, concerning the amicable settlement of differences that have arisen, with the assistance of the monitoring committee (…),” the document states.

Thus, the specialized panel for examining actions in administrative disputes came to the conclusion to reject the appeal filed by S.R.L. “Avia Invest” against the decision of the Chisinau Court (Riscani seat) of 21 February 2022.

The decision is enforceable from the moment it is issued, but can be appealed to the Supreme Court of Justice.

The request for appeal shall be submitted within 30 days from the date of notification of the decision of the appeal court, through the Chisinau Court of Appeal, and the grounds for appeal shall be submitted within 30 days from the date of notification of the reasoned decision of the appeal court, through the Supreme Court of Justice.

On Wednesday, November 23, magistrates Anatolie Minciună, Ecaterina Palanciuc and Veronica Negru of the Chisinau Court of Appeal rejected the appeal filed by the representatives of the company “Avia Invest” against the February 2022 decision of the Chisinau Court, Riscani seat, on the cancellation of the contract for the concession of the Airport assets.

Representatives of Avia Invest, which manages Chisinau International Airport, said at the time that “the decision of the Court of Appeal of 23 November is illegal and will be unconditionally appealed to the Supreme Court of Justice”. At the same time, they claim that the termination of the contract “implies a mandatory return of investments, which currently amount to more than 90 million euros”.

“Congratulations to the people of the Republic of Moldova. It is to your credit,” Justice Minister Sergiu Litvinenco wrote.

• Reaction of the Chisinau Court of Appeal to the accusations made by representatives of Avia Invest, the company that manages Chisinau International Airport

The Chisinau Court of Appeals, Riscani Branch, rejected on February 21, 2022 the request of “Avia-Invest” S.R.L. against the Public Property Agency (APP) for the cancellation of the concession contract of the Airport assets.

According to the Judgment, the action in administrative dispute of the plaintiff S.C. “Avia-Invest” SRL against the Public Property Agency (APP) for the annulment of the unfavorable individual administrative act of 08 July 2020 and the decision adopted in the preliminary procedure of 17 July 2020, was rejected as unfounded.

In July 2020, the Public Property Agency (APP) announced the termination of the concession contract for the Chisinau International Airport, the reason being that the “Avia Invest” Ltd. has not fulfilled its contractual obligations. The company denied the information.

Although the airport concession contract was terminated in 2020, Avia Invest continues to manage Chisinau International Airport as Avia Invest has appealed APP’s decision on the termination of the contract in court. Thus, until a final decision Avia Invest continues to manage Chisinau airport.

At the end of 2019, the Parliament took note of the reports of the Commission of Inquiry on the privatisation of “Air Moldova” and the concession of AIC (International Chisinau Airport).

The AIC concession was carried out in several steps. First, on 19 June 2012, the Government issued a decision on the initiation of the public-private partnership project for the concession of the State Enterprise “Chisinau International Airport”, with the official objective of “continuous development of the infrastructure and quality of services provided”. This was followed by the Government decision of 30 May 2013, which approved the concession and set the conditions of the concession. On 14 June 2013, the Ministry of Economy set up the tender commission responsible for organising and conducting the procedure for selecting the concessionaire, which, also in June, sent invitations to seven potential companies participating in the tender.

By 5 August 2013, the deadline for submission of bids, only two companies had expressed interest, both from Russia: “Vnukovo Invest” and “UK Komaks” in association with Habarovskii Airport JSC, Kolomensky Zavod JSC and Avia Invest JSC. At the meeting on 15 August 2013, the tender committee rejected the tender submitted by “Vnukovo Invest” on the grounds that it did not meet the requirements of the tender specifications. Under these circumstances, the only remaining bid was that of the Association of Legal Entities “Avia Invest”, which was also declared the winner. The bid set a concession period of 49 years, a royalty of 1% of the concession holder’s revenue and investments of €244.2 million.