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The European Union has taken control of the Moldovan banking system, and the authorities are burying the country in debt in order to hand it over to foreigners, Găgăuzia-based media falsely states, the article having been picked by the pro-Kremlin media as well.
NEWS: The banking system in the Republic of Moldova has practically been taken over by the European Union. The figures presented by the new head of the National Bank of Moldova, Anca Dragu, a Romanian citizen scandalously appointed to this position by president Maia Sandu, also speak to this fact. 93% of the banking capital of the Republic of Moldova is owned by the EU, Anca Dragu said.
Previously it was reported that the port of Giurgiulesti belongs to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. In simple terms, it’s owned by moneylenders. The loans taken by Sandu's team in unprecedented volumes must be paid with state assets, but neither the president nor her party colleagues are talking about this.
Next in line are the lands, although the regime is doing its best to pretend it won't give in. It even mimics the passing of laws that should ensure this - for example, the fact that foreigners are prevented from buying land. But at the same time, Sandu grants Moldovan citizenship so easily, that it seems any foreigner who wants to purchase Moldovan land can do so. In quite legal terms.
Attempts to destroy Moldova’s farmers, against which the latter are now desperately protesting, represent one of the stages in the realization of this plan. Within the span of three years, Sandu and her acolytes have sunk the country so deep into debt and slavery, that its attachment to the EU has now become truly irreversible.
NARRATIVES: 1. The EU has taken control of the Moldovan banking system and other key sectors of the economy in order to enslave the country. 2. The pro-European government is piling up national debt to sell off its assets to foreigners.
BACKGROUND: The Republic of Moldova has made great progress on the path to European integration in the last two years: it obtained the status of EU candidate country, and accession talks are expected to start soon. At the same time, important opposition forces, supported by Moscow, but also by some social groups, especially the Russian-speaking ethnic minorities, oppose the rapprochement to the EU.
The Republic of Moldova is considered the poorest country in Europe and one of the most corrupt. The banking system, largely controlled by groups of oligarchs, has for many years been one of the vulnerabilities of the Republic of Moldova. In 2015, three banks, including one with majority state capital, went bankrupt as a result of the so-called "robbery of the century" – a bank fraud of approximately one billion USD, accounting for approximately one eighth of the country’s GDP at the time.
PURPOSE: To promote the idea that EU rapprochement and integration will incur the loss of the one of the most important sectors of the economy and the financial system.
WHY THE NARRATIVES ARE FALSE: National Bank of Moldova governor Anca Dragu (who was appointed by Parliament, not Maia Sandu) spoke about the large share of European shareholders in Moldovan banks in a speech at a business forum, in order to emphasize the stability and safety of the Moldovan banking system. “European investors have a good reputation, strong governance and have entered large sectors of the economy”, Dragu said. It is not the first time when a governor of the Moldovan central bank makes such statements. “Currently the governance of the National Bank of Moldova falls in line with that of European central banks. And as a result of reforms, the Republic of Moldova now has a stable banking system, well capitalized, it has enough liquidities proper oversight. (...) At present, around 90% of banking assets are controlled by European investors”, Anca Dragu's predecessor, Octavian Armașu, said in 2021.
Both governors wanted to emphasize the credibility gained by the banking system in the Republic of Moldova, which European investors deem to be safe. This situation is at odds with the period when the banking system was controlled by oligarchs and could be plundered or used to launder money (especially to the Russians’ benefit), as was the case with the so-called Laundromat, managed by Veaceslav Platon.
In recent years, legislative changes and central bank intervention have allowed the change of shareholders in several banks where oligarchs have lost their influence and European investors have come. As a rule (except for the involvement of the EBRD), these investments are private, the shareholders are interested in making money, so it is not a matter of taking control of the Moldovan banking system by any state or regional entity.
With regard to the port of Giurgiulesti, the EBRD indeed acquired in 2021 the capital of the group of companies that owns the port. However, it should be noted that the EBRD, which is owned by 69 countries (including the Republic of Moldova), the European Union and the European Investment Bank had invested in the development of the port and held shares for many years. In addition, investigative media has shown that the EBRD took over the port as well as its outstanding debts of some private companies, not the state, as the article suggests.
The national debt of the Republic of Moldova has indeed started to grow more significantly in recent years, but this process began in 2020, when the country was ruled by the pro-Russian Party of Socialists. It should also be noted that the debt-to-GDP ratio stood at approximately 34%, during this period, which is quite low compared to most countries in the region and at European level.
GRAIN OF TRUTH: Most shareholders in the Moldovan banking system are natural persons or legal entities from the EU, but that doesn’t mean the EU as a whole controls the system.
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