The President of the Republic of Moldova, Maia Sandu, confirms the visits of the oligarch Vladimir Plahotniuc in Russia
The leader from Chisinau, Maia Sandu, confirmed that the oligarch Vladimir Plahotniuc has made several visits to the Russian Federation in the last two years, specifying that the Moldovan authorities have previously held this information that has been confirmed with its discovery.
Maia Sandu confirms Plahotniuc's visits to Russia. Photo: President.md
“I also had information that indicated for this, now that the list of all false acts and false names was used, the institutions were able to check the races with which Plahotniuc went to Moscow and there is an additional confirmation, not just about Plahotniuc's collaboration with the Kremlin, but also about these visits that happened, and this year,” said Maia Sandu.
The President of the Republic of Moldova made these details in the context of an article published by “The Insider”, an investigative site in Latvia, according to which the oligarch Vladimir Plahotniuc, recently arrested in Greece, has made several visits to Russia starting in June 2024 to negotiate with the deputy head of the Ruse Presidential Administration, The Kremlin in the Chisinau elections, as well as his return to the political scene in the Republic of Moldova.
False statements
Regarding the contradictory statements between the lawyer of the oligarch, Lucian Rogac, and the representatives of the General Prosecutor's Office (PG) on the extradition of Vladimir Plahotniuc in the Republic of Moldova, Maia Sandu stressed that: “The General Prosecutor's Office has publicly communicated about the fact that he made this request for extradition and only the prosecutor can tell you about what is in this file, I would not orient much to the statements that the lawyer makes because I saw that he had previously made false statements, when he initially said it was a signed request, and the request was not signed.”
Does not want extradited in Russia
On the same day, a few hours away, defender Lucian Rogac reiterated that Vladimir Plahotniuc did not oppose extradition to the Republic of Moldova, but to the one in Russia, mentioning that the oligarch “He said he refuses to be extradited.”
“On the contrary, he, on Friday, signed all the necessary documents presented by the lawyers in order to accept the extradition without conditionalities in the Republic of Moldova. In order to avoid speculation regarding the submission of the application regarding the acceptance of extradition by my client, I would like to explain that the documents were signed by Vladimir Plahotniuc last week only because of the existing procedures in Greece that differ from those in the Republic of Moldova, it arrived on the table of case prosecutors a few days away, that is, on July 29, added the defender.
Also, Lucian Rogac claims that his client's extradition could take place within a month.
“Given that Mr. Plahotniuc accepted to be extradited, this process would take from 12 to maximum 30 days, according to existing practices in Greek justice. There were also cases when the extradition lasted 5 days, this when the requesting state was cooperative and wanted the extradition to be operative. On July 29, Vladimir Plahotniuc's lawyers from Greece were communicated by the case prosecutor that the relevant acts from the authorities of the Republic of Moldova have not yet received. We hope this will happen soon, otherwise we will deduce that the authorities of the Republic of Moldova deliberately delay the process ”, the lawyer said.
Representatives of the General Prosecutor's Office of the Republic of Moldova stressed that they have sent the extradition request since July 24 through official channels to the Greek authorities.
“The data subject is criminally investigated in the Republic of Moldova for committing serious crimes, including the creation and management of a criminal organization, a very large proportions and money laundering, in accordance with the Criminal Code of the Republic of Moldova. The documents transmitted include all the necessary materials in support of the request, in accordance with the provisions of the European Extraction Convention of 1957 (Paris Convention) and the applicable criminal proceedings ”, Moldovan prosecutors said.
On July 23, Vladimir Plahotniuc was arrested for 40 days, a similar decision being taken in the case of former Democrat Deputy Constantin Țuțu, detained with Oligrah on an airport in Athens.
Vladimir Plahotniuc was arrested on the basis of a mandate issued by the Chisinau authorities, and Constantin Țuțu-following one issued by those from Moscow, the latter having on his behalf an international tracking notification issued by the Russian authorities for involvement in a drug trafficking network.
The fugitive oligarch Vladimir Plahotniuc was given in international search by Interpol earlier this year, the decision being taken after Chisinau requested the revision of the refusal in this regard from 2020.
“Puppet”-six-year-old Fugar
Vladimir Plahotniuc, businessman and former leader of the Democratic Party of Moldova (PDM), was one of the most influential politicians in Chisinau in the 2010-2020 decade.
Nicknamed the “doll”, Vladimir Plahotniuc was accused of influence on the entire political class in Chisinau. He is a fugitive in the summer of 2019, when the formation he was leading, PDM, remained powerless.
