The Government of Moldova is studying the possibility of terminating the agreement on the transfer to the concession of all bus stations of the company Gările Auto Moderne.
This was stated by Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Infrastructure and Regional Development Andrei Spinu, answering journalists' questions at a press conference on Wednesday. He noted that it was previously determined that the established public-private partnership to modernize and increase the efficiency of the activities of the State Enterprise Gările și Stațiile Auto damages public interests, the state-owned enterprise was transferred to concession following the results of a tender conducted in violation of set procedures, the commission of inquiry stated a number of violations, and in addition, the concessionaire company did not fulfill its obligations. “It is known that the contract for this public-private partnership was concluded at a time when state institutions were controlled by people from the circle of Vladimir Plahotniuc, and now lawyers are analyzing the steps that can be taken, assessing the possibility of terminating the contract, taking into account non-fulfillment of obligations and other aspects. There are still many questions, we are studying the situation and will make statements when a final solution is found,” Andrei Spinu said. It should be noted that earlier in the resolution of the Parliament, adopted following the hearing of the report of the investigative commission on the analysis of the procedure for organizing and conducting privatization and transfer to the concession of state property since 2013, on the assessment of the procedure and preparation of public-private partnership to modernize and increase the efficiency of the state enterprise Stațiile Auto, it is said that the procedure for terminating the agreement on the transfer of the country's bus stations to the concession company Gările Auto Moderne can be initiated in Moldova. The competition for the selection of a private partner for PPP was won by the only applicant: an association from the company Gările Auto Moderne, registered 2 days before submitting applications for the competition; FPC Exfactor - a well-known company in the field of construction in Moldova and US citizen Luka Muco. FPC Exfactor-Grup released financial statements showing that in 2017 operating cash flow was negative and equity capital was below government requirements. That is, even in accordance with the conditions set by the Cabinet, the proposal of this company was not acceptable and should have been rejected. Despite the extremely short time frame for preparing and submitting a proposal worth 200 million lei, FPC Exfactor withdrew from the founders of Gările Auto Moderne six months after signing the PPP agreement, stating in the press that it was no longer interested in this project. The members of the special commission noted that the Exfactor company, associated with Ilan Sor and a group of his companies, acted in the same way as it happened in the case of the concession of the Chisinau airport, and this raises reasonable suspicions that Exfactor served, through a breach of trust, only as a “screen” for Sor's group to take over the state enterprise Gările și Stațiile Auto with a turnover of 400 million lei per year. The members of the investigating commission revealed many inconsistencies, cases of negligence and abuse, which, in their opinion, are sufficient grounds for declaring the PPP for the modernization of bus terminals and bus stations as a project with serious procedural violations and alien to the public interest. According to the contract, in 2019, the private partner was supposed to invest 35 million lei in the modernization of bus stations in Ceadir-Lunga, Comrat, Cantemir, Causeni, Leovo, Taraclia, Stefan Voda and Vulcanesti, but did not do this and did not submit plans for reconstruction to the state partner. As part of the transition from a state-owned enterprise to Gările Auto Moderne JSC, some of the receivables of the carriers in relation to the stations were not covered. Exfactor Grup exited the project without contributing anything. As a result, the Commission of Inquiry recommended that the Parliament demand that the Public Property Agency take urgent measures to prepare a monitoring report on this PPP and start the procedure for terminating the contract if there is a lack of progress and bank guarantees to implement the terms of the contract. In addition, it was recommended to contact law enforcement agencies to investigate the actions and inaction of the government, the Ministry of Economy and Infrastructure, the SE "Gările și Stațiile Auto" administrator, and the private partner selection commission. // 16.02.2022 — InfoMarket
