The Constitutional Court of Moldova declared unconstitutional the law adopted by the parliament on December 16, 2020 on the abolition of the so-called "Law on a billion."
This decision was made by the Constitutional Court on Thursday after considering the petition of the Pro Moldova deputies Adrian Candu and Vladimir Cebotari. The decision of the Constitutional Court is final and not subject to appeal. It will enter into force from the moment of publication in Monitorul Oficial. Earlier, deputies from Pro Moldova asked to check the constitutionality of the law adopted by the parliament on the abolition of the so-called “law on the billion” and declare it unconstitutional, believing that the repeal by the parliament of the Law on the issue of government bonds in fulfillment by the Ministry of Finance of payment obligations arising from state guarantees of November 17, 2014 and April 1, 2015 undermines the economic stability of the state, will have a negative impact on the economic and financial security of states. According to politicians, the abolition of this law undermines Moldova's relations with the IMF and calls into question the prospects for financing the country, which threatens the economic security of the state. It should be noted that the aforementioned law on the issue of government bonds provided for the issue of government bonds at par value, with a fixed interest rate, for a period of up to 25 years, with a total volume of up to 13 billion 583 million 717 thousand lei, with an effective interest rate of 5%. The former President of Moldova, Igor Dodon, expressed the hope that the parliament would support the initiative to abolish the aforementioned law, which entrusted citizens with refunds of funds stolen from banks, stating that due to the law passed in 2016, taxpayers must pay generally from the budget 35 billion lei. As a result, on December 16, 2020, 56 deputies of parliament approved the invalidation of the law on the issue of government bonds. The authors of the bill on the abolition of the so-called the “law on a billion” noted that the document they developed is aimed at eliminating additional fiscal pressure on the population and economy of Moldova, at efficient use of the financial resources accumulated by the state in the form of taxes and fees in the interests of citizens, avoiding a significant increase in the national debt. The authors of the bill noted that it is at least incorrect to shift responsibility for the return of funds stolen from the banking system onto the shoulders of citizens, and this represents an additional fiscal burden for the state. The parliament also instructed the government, within 3 months from the date of entry into force of the law, to develop and propose the necessary measures to solve the problem of the debt of Banca de Economii, Banca Sociala and Unibank to the National Bank.// 18.03.2021 — InfoMarket.
