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MOLDOVAN OPPOSITION MP SAYS PREMIER BEHIND CONTROVERSIAL ARMS DEAL WITH ARMENIA
ProTV, Chisinau
April 18 2012
Moldova
[translated from Moldovan]
[Presenter] The Moldovan prime minister [Vlad Filat] personally
oversaw the sale of weapons to Armenia - the statement has been made
by opposition Communist MP Alexandr Petcov, who says that the ultimate
goal of the deal was to sell the remaining six MiG jet fighters for
spare parts. [Moldova sold 21 MiG-29 jet fighters to the USA in 1997.]
The press service of the government has declined to comment on these
accusations.
[Petcov, speaking at a news conference] The whole deal was not only
known but also supervised by a person named Vladimir Filat. That was
a deal with missiles. It was part of another deal whose ultimate goal
was the MiG-29 deal.
[Correspondent] Meanwhile, the parliamentary commission comprised of
lawmakers from all the parliamentary factions has established that
the weapons were sold to Armenia without the government's consent
and without a tender.
[Anatol Gorila, captioned as chairman of the investigations commission,
speaking at the same news conference] The governmental commission for
the sale of the army's assets authorized the signing of contracts to
supply weapons to the Latvian company Latspeceksports without holding
a tender and without the government's decision.
[Defence Minister Valeriu Marinuta, speaking to a ProTV correspondent]
I view this deal as legal. The Prosecutor-General's Office now has
to express its position.
[Correspondent] The commission concluded that several other officials
are also responsible for the illegal sale of the weapons. These
are [Economics Minister] Valeriu Lazar, who, as chairman of the
governmental commission, allowed the contract to be signed, Deputy
Foreign Minister Andrei Popov, who damaged Moldova's image abroad,
and the acting director of the Information and Security Service,
who did not provide information in due time.
The officials have not yet commented on the accusations.
The sale of around 50 tonnes of weapons took place in September 2011,
when a cargo plane landed at Marculesti [military] airport to take
these obsolete weapons. The weapons were sold by the Defence Ministry
to a Latvian company. However, the plane belonged to Armenia, with
which the Latvian company signed a contract. At the end of the day,
the parliamentary commission concluded that all the weapons were sold
to Armenia.
Its conclusions have been submitted to the Prosecutor-General's Office,
which now has to establish whether the deal was legal.
ProTV, Chisinau
April 18 2012
Moldova
[translated from Moldovan]
[Presenter] The Moldovan prime minister [Vlad Filat] personally
oversaw the sale of weapons to Armenia - the statement has been made
by opposition Communist MP Alexandr Petcov, who says that the ultimate
goal of the deal was to sell the remaining six MiG jet fighters for
spare parts. [Moldova sold 21 MiG-29 jet fighters to the USA in 1997.]
The press service of the government has declined to comment on these
accusations.
[Petcov, speaking at a news conference] The whole deal was not only
known but also supervised by a person named Vladimir Filat. That was
a deal with missiles. It was part of another deal whose ultimate goal
was the MiG-29 deal.
[Correspondent] Meanwhile, the parliamentary commission comprised of
lawmakers from all the parliamentary factions has established that
the weapons were sold to Armenia without the government's consent
and without a tender.
[Anatol Gorila, captioned as chairman of the investigations commission,
speaking at the same news conference] The governmental commission for
the sale of the army's assets authorized the signing of contracts to
supply weapons to the Latvian company Latspeceksports without holding
a tender and without the government's decision.
[Defence Minister Valeriu Marinuta, speaking to a ProTV correspondent]
I view this deal as legal. The Prosecutor-General's Office now has
to express its position.
[Correspondent] The commission concluded that several other officials
are also responsible for the illegal sale of the weapons. These
are [Economics Minister] Valeriu Lazar, who, as chairman of the
governmental commission, allowed the contract to be signed, Deputy
Foreign Minister Andrei Popov, who damaged Moldova's image abroad,
and the acting director of the Information and Security Service,
who did not provide information in due time.
The officials have not yet commented on the accusations.
The sale of around 50 tonnes of weapons took place in September 2011,
when a cargo plane landed at Marculesti [military] airport to take
these obsolete weapons. The weapons were sold by the Defence Ministry
to a Latvian company. However, the plane belonged to Armenia, with
which the Latvian company signed a contract. At the end of the day,
the parliamentary commission concluded that all the weapons were sold
to Armenia.
Its conclusions have been submitted to the Prosecutor-General's Office,
which now has to establish whether the deal was legal.