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MOLDOVAN MINISTER DENIES LAW VIOLATIONS IN ARMS DEAL WITH ARMENIA
Infotag news agency
April 9 2012
Chisinau, Moldova
[translated from Russian]
Chisinau, 9 April: The Moldovan parliamentary commission in charge
of investigating the sale of a batch of weapons to Armenia has put
forward ungrounded charges concerning the procedures for the issuing
of arms export clearances. This was stated in a letter by Deputy
Prime Minister and Economics Minister Valeriu Lazar addressed to the
parliament speaker, the commission for national security, defence and
public order, and the parliamentary commission for investigation of
the arms sale.
A source in the Economics Ministry has told Infotag that the ministry
deems untrue the information that obsolete weapons were sold to a
company that lacked an "Armenian end-user certificate".
"What is more, from the legal point of view, the government commission
in charge of selling the assets of the National Army can only refuse
to approve an export contract if a UN international embargo on trading
weapons with certain countries is imposed or if an embargo is imposed
inside the country through a parliamentary ruling. But national and
international laws do not ban arms supplies to Armenia. There was no
such embargo in force when the decision was taken and there is none
in force now," the letter said.
In order to eliminate gaps in the legislation, the Economics Ministry
came up with a range of proposals to amend it. In particular, it
suggested that authorized bodies have the right to ban the sale of
arms to certain countries including those with frozen conflicts.
Infotag earlier reported that members of the special commission in
charge of investigating the sale of weapons to Armenia insisted that
"it was conducted with violations".
Lawmakers said that "the chairman of the governmental commission for
the sale of military equipment and ammunition, Economics Minister
Valeriu Lazar, as well as commission member and Defence Minister
Valeriu Marinuta, violated the law while carrying out the deal
with the Latvian company Latspeceksports. No auction was conducted,
while the Latvian company did not have all the documents necessary
for such deals".
Infotag's note: In 2011, the Moldovan Defence Ministry sold weapons
and ammunition from the National Army's reserves to Latspeceksports.
Under the contract, the weapons reachedArmenia and Ukraine. A scandal
broke out when it emerged that the weapons could be used to arm the
Armenian service personnel participating in the Nagornyy Karabakh
conflict with Azerbaijan.
Infotag news agency
April 9 2012
Chisinau, Moldova
[translated from Russian]
Chisinau, 9 April: The Moldovan parliamentary commission in charge
of investigating the sale of a batch of weapons to Armenia has put
forward ungrounded charges concerning the procedures for the issuing
of arms export clearances. This was stated in a letter by Deputy
Prime Minister and Economics Minister Valeriu Lazar addressed to the
parliament speaker, the commission for national security, defence and
public order, and the parliamentary commission for investigation of
the arms sale.
A source in the Economics Ministry has told Infotag that the ministry
deems untrue the information that obsolete weapons were sold to a
company that lacked an "Armenian end-user certificate".
"What is more, from the legal point of view, the government commission
in charge of selling the assets of the National Army can only refuse
to approve an export contract if a UN international embargo on trading
weapons with certain countries is imposed or if an embargo is imposed
inside the country through a parliamentary ruling. But national and
international laws do not ban arms supplies to Armenia. There was no
such embargo in force when the decision was taken and there is none
in force now," the letter said.
In order to eliminate gaps in the legislation, the Economics Ministry
came up with a range of proposals to amend it. In particular, it
suggested that authorized bodies have the right to ban the sale of
arms to certain countries including those with frozen conflicts.
Infotag earlier reported that members of the special commission in
charge of investigating the sale of weapons to Armenia insisted that
"it was conducted with violations".
Lawmakers said that "the chairman of the governmental commission for
the sale of military equipment and ammunition, Economics Minister
Valeriu Lazar, as well as commission member and Defence Minister
Valeriu Marinuta, violated the law while carrying out the deal
with the Latvian company Latspeceksports. No auction was conducted,
while the Latvian company did not have all the documents necessary
for such deals".
Infotag's note: In 2011, the Moldovan Defence Ministry sold weapons
and ammunition from the National Army's reserves to Latspeceksports.
Under the contract, the weapons reachedArmenia and Ukraine. A scandal
broke out when it emerged that the weapons could be used to arm the
Armenian service personnel participating in the Nagornyy Karabakh
conflict with Azerbaijan.