MOLDOVAN PARLIAMENT ANNULS LAW ON RETURNING THE STOLEN BILLION

On Wednesday, the 101-member Parliament of Moldova annulled the Law on the order of returning the billion U.S. dollars [equivalent] stolen from the Moldovan banking system. The annulment law was passed by the votes of 56 deputies representing the Party of Socialists, the Sor Party and the Platform “For Moldova”.

Presenting the bill, Chairman of the parliamentary Standing Committee for Economy, Budget and Finance Dr. Vladimir Golovatiuc said that the annulment law is aimed to relieve from citizens’ shoulders the financial burden of repaying the money issued by the National Bank of Moldova (NBM) to three bankrupt organizations – the Banca de Economii [savings bank], the Unibank and the Banca Sociala. Golovatiuc stressed the document means the return of the body of the credit – the money issued against governmental security, as well as interest on that sum.

At considering the annulment bill in a second reading, the Parliament adopted the amendment proposed by Vladimir Golovatiuc, according to which the Government must work out within maximum 3 months and must present to parliament a set of measures for repaying the said 3 banks’ debt to the National Bank. All the deputies present in the session room unanimously voted for approving the law in two readings.

Parliament Deputy Speaker Vlad Batrincea, a Socialist, stated that the PSRM deputies “wholeheartedly voted for this long-awaited law, which annuls the unfair law railroaded on October 3, 2016”. In his words, the annulment of that old draconic law permits to save in the State Budget nearly 600 million lei that will now be used to help agricultural producers.