Gagauzia head calls travel ban 'political abuse'
The President of the People's Assembly of Gagauzia (APG), Dmitrii Constantinov, is subject to a travel ban for two months.
Violina Moraru, spokesperson for the Prosecutor General's Office, told Teleradio-Moldova, citing the confidentiality of the criminal investigation, that "currently we cannot provide details on this case, and the public will be informed at the appropriate time."
Contacted for comment, Dmitrii Constantinov described the ban as "political abuse." He denies the accusations against him and says the decision to bar him from leaving the country is directly linked to his 2023 vote for the executive committee led by Başcan Evghenia Guțul, who was supported both during the election campaign and throughout her term by the fugitive oligarch Ilan Șor.
"I approved the executive, and they opened the criminal case. And you know, about three times already, I've been stopped from leaving the country at the airport. I even recorded videos, sent them to the Prosecutor General, but received no response. Why am I not being allowed to go abroad? They gave me a decision stating that, based on the criminal case, I am not allowed to leave the country for two months. The case is, allegedly, for swindling, that I supposedly appropriated a spirit factory belonging to someone else. It is complete nonsense, absurd, political abuse. This spirit factory is known not only in Gagauzia, but throughout Moldova. And I am sure the court will clarify things, but they need me not to leave the country right now," Dmitrii Constantinov told Teleradio-Moldova.
It is worth recalling that in December 2023, law enforcement raided several addresses in UTAG as part of a criminal case initiated based on "reasonable suspicion" of committing offenses stipulated by Articles 335 and 352 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Moldova, related to the "intentional use, by a person administering a commercial organization, of the organization's assets for the benefit of third parties, as well as acts of arbitrariness." Although the Prosecutor General's Office did not mention at the time who was targeted in the criminal case, local media reported that searches were conducted at the homes of the head of the APG, his son, as well as employees of an alcohol factory in Comrat, which is owned by Constantinov, were searched. The latter denied the accusations.
In July 2024, the portal deschide.md reported, citing case materials, that Constantinov allegedly accessed loans totaling 16 million lei in the name of a company, after which he transferred the money to the accounts of another SRL managed by his son. As a result of Constantinov's actions, the company that accessed the loans entered insolvency proceedings.
According to Gagauzia's legislation, APG deputies cannot be detained, arrested, or searched on the territory of the autonomy without the consent of the People's Assembly.
Dmitrii Constantinov was elected as president of the People's Assembly of the Gagauzia Autonomous Territorial Unit (UTA Gagauzia) in February 2022. His candidacy was supported by 18 deputies.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
