Former Chisinau deputy mayor reveals alleged illegalities; Chisinau City Hall comes up with reactions

The former deputy mayor of the Chisinau municipality, Irina Gutnic, has launched more accusations against the City Hall’s leadership and Mayor Ion Ceban, claiming that there is a system based on fear, pressure and illegal administrative decisions at the institution. The head of state today made statements to this effect at a news conference, during which she spoke about alleged administrative abuses, mismanagement of public funds and the involvement of officials in politically tinted activities. The city hall described the charges as “a series of falsehoods.”

“At the Chișinău City Hall, a climate of fear, pressure and total control has been established,” Gutnic said.

The former deputy mayor said that, in recent weeks, the City Hall’s leadership had allegedly organized individual meetings with employees, in order to intimidate them and prevent possible leaks of information about what is happening at the institution.

Irina Gutnic also accused the existence of practices of mismanaging public funds, claiming that such mechanisms had become a normality in the municipal administration.

“Wasting public money is a rule in the Chisinau City Hall and everyone knows this,” the former deputy mayor said.

In her statement, the former deputy mayor also made a string of self-denunciations, claiming that she had been part of this system and that she publicly assumed her share of responsibility.

“I was also part of this system. I publicly assume my share of responsibility. As deputy mayor, I benefited from salary bonuses for declared hours that were not actually worked by me,” she said.

At the same time, Gutnic said that some employees had been allegedly asked to participate in electoral activities during working hours. Irina Gutnic said that she held documents and evidence that would support the accusations she had made and warned that official documents cannot be destroyed.

In a post on his page, Ion Ceban noted: “There are two scenarios orchestrated directly by those who wanted to carry out a coup at the Chisinau City Hall, through a person who does not belong to herself and is directly directed by those who have no chance of winning the elections through the citizens’ vote.”

The city hall issued a statement specifying that “today a new series of falsehoods was circulated. This is also proved by the covert removal of some official documents from the City Hall. Everything else will be analyzed and assessed from a legal point of view. The Chisinau City Hall is open to present any data.”

Irina Gutnic was dismissed from the position of deputy mayor of the capital on May 11. She had held this office since 2022. Before that, Irina Gutnic was the general director of JSC Apa-Canal Chisinau.