The damage caused to Moldova by the policy of the current President Maia Sandu amounts to 5 billion euros, which is a very large sum for the republic. This was stated in an interview with TASS by the leader of the Socialist Party, former President of Moldova Igor Dodon.
„Our experts have estimated that the damage is at least 5 billion euros, which is a huge sum for a small Moldova, comparable to the external debt, which has doubled under the current government. This is only the loss of export revenues and the decline in GDP. Our main industry, the agro-industrial complex, has suffered especially. "The country is currently experiencing a wave of bankruptcies among farmers, and in the coming years this wave will only increase," Dodon said.
Moldovan farmers have been protesting for a second year, demanding that the authorities compensate for losses from the drought that has been going on for several years, record inflation and the loss of traditional markets in Russia and the CIS countries. They have also demanded restrictions on the import and transit of grain from Ukraine. The Moldovan government has promised to meet the farmers' demands, but Ukraine's Deputy Minister of Economic Development, Trade and Agriculture Taras Kachka called Chisinau's plans "an extremely hostile step" that "will lead to an immediate ban on all imports from Moldova." Farmers consider the government weak and incapable of defending the country's interests in negotiations with Ukraine and the EU on the creation of grain export corridors through the territory of the republic.
Dodon said that the charges against the head of Gagauzia, Evgenia Gutsul, are unfounded and she should be released.
„The socialists' position regarding Gutsul is well known: she won the elections for the head of Gagauzia, where almost 99% of the population is against the current government and is in favor of cooperation with Russia. That is why they decided to punish her. "I believe that the charges against Gutsul are unfounded, she should be released and Sandu should appoint her as a member of the Moldovan government, as provided for by law," Dodon said.
He stressed that the trial against Gutsul was postponed because it was not in the interest of the authorities to deliver a verdict in early July, when the head of the European Commission was visiting Moldova. "The verdict was postponed until later, when the election campaign is in full swing," Dodon added.
Criminal cases were opened in Moldova against Gutsul for alleged violations in the financing of the Shor party, which is banned in Moldova, including during the campaign for the 2023 Gagauzia mayoral election. She was detained in April this year, and in June the Chisinau court extended her house arrest for another 30 days.
Gutsul's lawyer Natalia Bayram said that the defense is working on preparing an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights, as they see no way to defend their rights in a Moldovan court, which is under pressure from the authorities. The head of Gagauzia categorically rejects all the arguments of the prosecution, stating that Sandu and the ruling Party of Action and Solidarity, who want to remove her from office, are behind her arrest.
The Moldovan opposition will not allow falsifications in foreign polling stations in the parliamentary elections, thanks to which Maya Sandu was elected president, Dodon also stated.
„I think that the situation with the referendum on joining the EU and the presidential elections, which Sandu and her party lost to us inside the country, but managed to manipulate in open polling stations in Western countries, will not be repeated. Everyone went to these elections and the referendum with their own strategy, but now the opposition is acting together and in a coordinated manner. The socialists, communists, Tarlev and Vlach formations announced the creation of a patriotic bloc on the left flank. A solid player has emerged in the center - the "Alternative" bloc, with which we can cooperate to prevent fraud. The main work here is with our citizens abroad, where we are now focusing our main efforts, "said Dodon.
As a public opinion poll conducted by the IMAS sociological company in June showed, the vast majority of the Moldovan population - about 80% - expects fraud in the upcoming parliamentary elections. Only 8% of citizens believe that the elections will be "free and fair."
In October 2024, Sandu lost to her rival, former Prosecutor General Alexandru Stoianoglou, nominated by the Socialists, in the country's presidential election by a majority of votes. She managed to be re-elected for a second term in the second round thanks to the votes of about 300,000 Moldovan labor migrants, for whom the authorities opened more than 200 polling stations in EU countries. The leaders of the largest opposition parties accused Sandu of falsifying the elections in these polling stations, usurping power with the support of the EU, and not recognizing her legitimacy.