New Details in the Concession of the Chișinău International Airport
Eight public officials and one legal entity are charged in the criminal case concerning the concession of the Chișinău International Airport. The Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, offered the information, refusing to give names because the criminal prosecution is ongoing.
The Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office opened a case in September 2019 regarding the concession of Chisinău International Airport. Later on, three more cases were connected to the Airport’s case. All are based on offenses such as scam, misappropriation of foreign assets, money laundering, abuse of power, and exceeding service duties.
On January 22, the member of the parliament Alexandr Slusari requested that the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office reveals if Valeriu Lazăr, former Minister of Economy, Tudor Copaci, former head of the Public Property Agency, and Iurie Leancă, former Prime Minister, have the statute of suspect and/or accused in elaboration and approval of the Decision no. 321 regarding the approval of the concession of the assets of the Chișinău International Airport and the conditions of their concession.
In a response published on February 7, the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office mentions that the prosecution is ongoing and will provide information when it is completed, stating that eight public officials, as well as a legal entity, are indicted.
The Chișinău International Airport concession was carried out in several steps. First, on June 19, 2012, the Government issued a decision regarding the initiation of the public-private partnership project for the concession of the State Enterprise Chișinău International Airport, officially having as objective the continuous development of the infrastructure and the quality of the services provided.
In May 2013, the government approved the concession establishing all the conditions. One month later, the Ministry of Economy established the Competition Commission responsible for organizing and carrying out the procedure for selecting the concessionaire, who also sent invitations to seven potential companies participating in the competition.
The deadline to submit tenders was in August the same year. Two companies expressed interest, both from Russia, which were Vnukovo Invest and UK Komaks in association with JSC Habarovskii Airport, JSC Kolomensky Zavod and LLC Avia Invest.
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At the hearing also in August 2013, the Competition Commission rejected the offer submitted by the company Vnukovo Invest on the ground that it did not meet the requirements of the specification. In these conditions, the only remaining was Avia Invest company which was declared a winner.
The offer established a concession period of 49 years and a royalty payment of one percent of the income realized by the concessionary company. The company also assumed to invest €244.2 million in the Chișinău International Airport.
