Head Of Moldovan Company Used To Settle Gas Debt With Russia's Gazprom Steps Down

CHISINAU (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 30th November, 2021) Vyacheslav Yeni, the director of the state-owned Termoelectrica company, through which Moldova paid off its gas debt to Gazprom, is leaving his post on December 1 amid suspicions of illicit enrichment, the company announced on Monday.

On November 25, the Moldovan parliament, at the request of the government, urgently approved in the final reading amendments to the law on the state budget for 2021 to allocate money to pay the $74 million debt to Gazprom for gas received in October and November. The next day Russian gas giant Gazprom confirmed receiving the payment from Moldovagaz.

The funds were transferred to the state-owned energy company, Energocom, in the form of arrears of the same value held by Moldovagaz towards Termoelectrica for gas deliveries in 2002-2008.

"The General Director of Termoelectrica ends his mandate from December 1. Vyacheslav Yeni has served as the general director of Termoelectrica for six years, that is, for three consecutive terms," the company said in a statement.

Yeni, in turn, wrote on Facebook that he hoped the company would be "reborn from the ashes, like a Phoenix, and will continue to develop."

The decision to step down came after the anti-corruption prosecutor's office announced on November 24 that Yeni was suspected of illicit enrichment. The investigation claimed that in 2015-2021, Yeni's expenses exceeded income by $217,000 and that he also acquired ten real estate units through intermediaries.