The Moldovan media revealed that the candidate for the position of Prime Minister Alexandru Munteanu worked with the Cypriot lawyer subject to sanctions. After publishing this information on October 15, Munteanu issued a statement.
According to the findings of the emergence Moldova investigative portal, the party's ruling candidate led part of his business through a lawyer from Cyprus, Christodoulos Vassiliades, who after the Russian invasion of Ukraine was placed on the UK and US sanctions lists.
Journalists established that Munteanu was affiliated with 5 companies registered in the British Virgin Islands, mentioned in the alleged Panama Papers. All these entities were served by Vassiliades' law firm, which previously provided services to Russian oligarch Aliszer Usmanov, helping him to defend assets from Western sanctions.
Vassiliades was besides the manager of Sberbank Investments Limited in Cyprus, which was part of the sanctioned Russian Sberbank. The lawyer himself assured that “he has always respected and will proceed to respect the sanctions in force”.
One of the companies with Munteanu – Dragon Global Advisors Ltd, registered in 2008 in the British Virgin Islands – participated in the Europe Virgin Fund project, implemented by EBRD for private sector investments in Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova. The task was co-financed by Dragon Capital. papers from 2015 show that Munteanu and Czech entrepreneur Kamil Hoča held a full of 60 percent of the company's shares.
Following the publication of emergence Moldova Munteanu stated on social media that he was willing to supply full explanations of his investments. He claims that before publication he received only 20 minutes to respond and failed to prepare a comment.
The politician emphasized that there are presently no offshore companies in the Virgin Islands, although he owned them until 2019. He explained that he had exercised this jurisdiction due to its transparent rules and cooperation with European investors.
Munteanu added that he had terminated his cooperation with Vassiliades' law firm immediately after he learned of her ties to the Russian oligarchs. He besides pointed out that this law firm operated a number of reputable funds, including Dragon Capital, and his cooperation with it was “a decline after erstwhile contracts”.
The candidate besides denied being a associate of Natur Bravo's board of directors during the period the media were writing about, and rejected accusations of participation in the 2007 Fincombank deal.
On 14 October, the Moldovan authorities officially confirmed that Alexandru Munteanu, a businessman who has lived in Ukraine for more than 20 years, would become a candidate for the position of Prime Minister. On the same day, the current Prime Minister, Dorin Recean, announced that he was resigning from the government and intends to waive his parliamentary mandate.
Source: EP
Study Bulletin: BIS
