MOLDOVA-GABURICI Moldova's PM tenders his resignation

Record ID: 150975

  • Title: MOLDOVA-GABURICI Moldova's PM tenders his resignation
  • Date: 12th June 2015
  • Summary: CHISINAU, MOLDOVA (FILE) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF MOLDOVA GOVERNMENT HEADQUARTERS PEOPLE WALKING OUT OF BUILDING MOLDOVA'S FLAG
  • Embargoed: 27th June 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVAEE7YB3DKLJTU3YFOYG5ULYVJY
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Moldovan Prime Minister Chiril Gaburici said on Friday (June 12) he was tendering his resignation, days after he called for the state prosecutor and central bank chief to step down over the disappearance of $1 billion from three Moldovan banks.
    Gaburici, a 38-year-old pro-European businessman, took over in February as prime minister of the small ex-Soviet country between Ukraine and European Union, heading a minority coalition government supported by two pro-European parties.
    "Today I want to make an announcement which is unprecedented for the Republic of Moldova - I want to announce my resignation. I think by doing this I will ensure that there would be no suspicions that the investigation was thorough, transparent and that the subject of my graduation paper which is irrelevant to the current economic situation in the Republic of Moldova, will be removed from the agenda," he told reporters in a briefing.
    Moldova has been in a state of political tumult since it emerged in recent months that the equivalent of around an eighth of annual GDP had gone missing from the three banks.
    Gaburici called last weekend for a number of senior officials, including the heads of the prosecutor's office and the central bank, to resign for failing to catch the embezzlers.
    After he castigated officials, prosecutors hit back, announcing a criminal investigation into whether Gaburici had forged his school records earlier in his public career.
    "This action is not a step back, on the opposite; it is a step forward for the entire country. And the three months which I was in the government have shaken up the system, it's happened because of my initiatives. I hope that now in the current emergency situation mechanisms aimed at avoiding political and governmental crisis will be launched. I want to assure you that regardless of what I am going to do in the future - I will remain a supporter of modernisation and development of the Republic of Moldova," said Gaburici.
    The country, one Europe's poorest, has been divided since the fall of the Soviet Union between factions that are broadly pro-European and pro-Russian, with both sides accusing each other of corruption during their periods in power.
    Last year it ratified a political and trade agreement with the European Union, incurring the displeasure of Russia which has banned imports of wines, vegetables and meat from the mainly agricultural country.
    Its fate has gained new international attention since Russia seized neighbouring Ukraine's Crimea peninsula last year. Russian troops are stationed in a strip of Moldova since the breakup of the Soviet Union, protecting a self-proclaimed independent statelet called Transdniestria which is loyal to Moscow.
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