The house arrest of the governor of Gagauzia, Evghenia Gutul has been extended by 30 days. IPN Agency analyzed the impact of her absence on the work of the Executive Committee and the region as a whole. According to People’s Assembly Deputy Alexandr Tarnavschi, Evghenia Gutul’s absence from work has no major consequences, since “even before her arrest, the work of the Executive Committee was inefficient.”
Comrat without Executive Committee support
“I don’t think that the absence of Gutul affects the quality of the Executive Committee’s decisions, as they were ineffective even before she was prosecuted,” Tarnavschi said.
On the other hand, Igor Ianac, PhD in law, believes that the lack of a leader at this level may hinder the adoption and implementation of long-term development plans. But everything depends on how the work of the Gagauz administration is organized in the absence of the governor, the efficiency of other officials and how long this situation will last.
The mayor of Comrat, Sergey Anastasov, said that the city is not affected by the absence of Evghenia Gutul, as she did not receive significant support during her absence from work.
“Its absence does not influence the development of the city, because in the last two years no funds have been allocated by the Executive Committee. We only received 2-3 million lei as support for a few projects. Comrat’s development now depends entirely on the central authorities. We received over 100 million lei from the state budget and European projects,” Anastasov explained.
“Departments work, everyone is in place”
The governor’s absence has not blocked work in Gagauzia. Departments of the Executive Committee continue their work as normal, and Gutul is replaced by his deputy, Ilya Uzun. Many decisions are taken by the People’s Assembly.
“Every department works, everything is under control. The office of the Bashkan has more of a political role. In reality, the work is carried out by deputies and employees of the administration,” the mayor of Comrat added.
There is, however, a negative impact on the region, but not because of the physical absence of the Bashkan, but because of the cooperation she has with Ilan Shor.
“The leadership of Gagauzia openly collaborates with a person convicted of the biggest bank fraud in the country’s history. Thus, we have lost dialog with the central authorities, diplomatic support from international missions and investments from traditional donors,” added Alexandr Tarnavschi.
Igor Ianac, for his part, believes that instability in the region’s leadership may drive away investors, who avoid areas marked by uncertainty and political change.
Mayor Sergei Anastasov also notes that the instability and losses are caused by blocking the access of European officials and politicians to Gagauzia.
“When we block visits of European and Moldovan officials to the region, this becomes really harmful. We may lose important projects, and ongoing ones risk being abandoned,” Anastasov said.
Clarifications
Evghenia Gutul was detained at Chisinau International Airport on the evening of March 25. She is the target of two criminal cases. In one she is accused of fraudulent management of electoral funds, illegal financing and false statements in the electoral campaign. In the other, she is suspected, together with the secretary of the central office of the former “Shor” party, of complicity in the illegal financing of a political party and an electoral candidate by an organized criminal group.
On April 9, the Ciocana District Court in Chisinau decided to release him from solitary confinement and place him under house arrest. The decision was upheld by the Chisinau Court of Appeal.
