Dodon, lobbying in the interests of Igor Ceaika
Igor Ceiaka, son of the ex-former prosecutor of the Russian Federation, has shown an interest in the potential of the Transnistrian region – in terms of cheap electricity and a fairly good internet speed since September 2017. It was not long before Tiraspol legalized the acquisition of cryptocurrencies after the adoption of the law on the Development of Blockchain Technology. The project was presented by region leader Vadim Krasnoselski on January 23rd. The next day was voted on at first reading, and on 31 January, the document passed the final reading. The law had retroactive action, so the provisions came into force from 1 January 2018. The document’s briefing note says investors will be exempt from taxes, have the support of the authorities, and benefit from special electricity tariffs.
After the adoption of the Law, in an interview with the Russian publication “Kommersant”, Ceaika stated that five to six Russian investors had expressed interest in this project, appreciating that on the left of the Dniester there are all the conditions for mining: fast internet and cheap electricity. According to him, businessmen would be willing to invest between five and 15 million Russian rubles, which is between 90 thousand and 265 thousand dollars.
The one who lobbied for Ceaika to develop a cryptocurrency business in Transnistria was none other than the country’s president, Igor Dodon.
Ceaika and Dodon have met several times in recent years. The Chisinau press then revealed more information about Igor Ceaika’s interest in opening a cryptocurrency farm in the Transnistrian region – details agreed with the separatist administration in Tiraspol. The Guardian newspaper wrote in February 2019 that during Dodon’s presidency, Igor Cheaika was several times in Chisinau and Comrat, setting up several deals with Gagauzia, but also with Transnistria, forecasting important Russian investments on the left of the Dniester. Moreover, on the website of the organization “Delovaya Rossia”, deloros.ru, there are dozens of information about economic transactions, current or future, with companies from various areas, including the Republic of Moldova. This is just one example of the way in which Russian businessmen control their finances in Transnistria.
On April 5, 2019, Igor Ceaika’s plane was used to repatriate, through Moscow, Moldovan pilots held captive by the Taliban, which took place just before the parliamentary elections in the Republic of Moldova. Demersal was very clear about supporting Igor Dodon in the election campaign. It is assumed that the Chisinau Government knew nothing about this action. In February 2019, the information appeared that Igor Ceaika participated directly in the operation to release the Moldovan pilots. In an interview with the publication “Comersant”, Ceaika said that in November 2018, President Igor Dodon verbally asked him to contribute to the release of Moldovan hostages. “That’s what I’ve been working on and all the processes in the operation I’ve organized,” Ceaika said. He described the release of pilots as humanitarian aid and refused to name the people and organizations that had participated in the operation before. Igor Dodon personally expressed to Ceaika gratitude for “this human gesture.”
Furthermore, Ceaika provides Igor Dodon with funds through the NGO “From the Soul”, managed by the first Mrs Galina Dodon. According to some documents, consulted by the Romanian Centre for Investigative Journalism, on 16 August 2017, 70 thousand euros were transferred to the NGO “From the Soul” (no. 222400000223, Victoriabank) 70 thousand euros were transferred from Igor Ceaika’s account (account no. 40817978523000362926, opened at Bank Absolut in Moscow). Shortly after the bank transfer, Igor Chaika was appointed business ambassador to Moldova and Transnistria by “Delovaya Rossiya”, an organization of the Russian business environment to which President Igor Dodon is close.
Older articles, published in the Moldovan press, indicate that Exclusive Media, another organization linked to Galina Dodon and PSRM, would have received 1.5 million euros from the ghost company Westerby Limited. Thus, Igor Ceaika delivers money to the PSRM in general and Igor Dodon in particular, both through the first lady Galina Dodon and his brother Alexandru Dodon, who is a business partner with the russian oligarch. In September 2019, the son of the ex-former prosecutor general of the Russian Federation and Alexandru Dodon became co-owners of a company in charge of the collection and processing of industrial waste, including radioactive waste. According to russian news portal RBC, Igor Chaika owns 40% of the company’s shares, and Dodon’s brother – 10%. Another 50% belong to another of Ceaika’s business partners, Alexander Ponomariov. This is not the first joint project of Chaika, Dodon and Ponomariov. Previously, Chaika and Ponomariov created the construction company Archplay Development LLC, where he is a share holder and Alexandru Dodon with a minority stake.
Igor Dodon just claims to be pro-Moldovan
Igor Dodon was accused in the press of having worked hand in hand with the Russian Agency Rospotrebnadzor (Federal Health Service) to facilitate the export of more moldovan assets to Russia and appropriated some of his profits. Dodon was accused in particular of establishing a monopoly on the import of meat by approving the Regulation “On the issue of authorizations for the import of certain products”. On the basis of this document, a special committee, also headed by him, issued authorizations for the import of meat products. Anticorupție.md writes that this was how the “Mafia of the Meat” appeared, because the authorizations were issued only to businessmen, at Dodon’s decision. Among those accused by the then director of the Centre for Combating Economic Crimes and Corruption Viorel Chetraru of being part of this “Mafia of The Meat” was Sergei Yaralov, Vlad Plahotniuc’s trusted man. The CCECC investigated the monopolistic scheme in 2009, but investigations only ended with the fine of some companies involved.
Other accusations have been made against Igor Dodon, such as that he had agreed with Rospotrebnadzor and Rosselhoznadzor to accept several companies exporting wines, fruits, and vegetables on the Russian market, in the context of the embargo imposed by the Russian Federation in 2011. According to anticorupție.md, Dodon provided a green corridor for the company “Moldavskii standart”, the only one in Moldova that was entitled during the communist government to deliver wines abroad in bulk. It happened when, at his insistence, the Chisinau Government banned bulk exports for other companies.
This is the story of a head of state who claims to be the “man of the people” and the lawyer of the moldovans.
Dodon controls media sources in the Republic of Moldova
At the end of 2019, Igor Dodon controlled the moldovan company Media Invest Service, which recently secured its rights for the first TV station in Moldova (formerly Accent TV) to broadcast the Russian-language broadcasts of the Russian station Pervîi Kanal. However, no media source controlled by Dodon is found in his declaration of wealth, coordinated by the intermediaries. At the end of December 2019 Igor Chaika took possession of 51% of the company “Media Invest Service”, thus taking over from businessman Vadim Ciubara, a close associate of Igor Dodon, the majority share of the company that owns Accent TV and First in Moldova. The contract by which Igor Chaika took over 51% of the “Media Invest Service” was signed on December 27, just one day after the President of the Republic of Moldova, Igor Dodon, had declared that the two TV stations were to have Russian owners. In Moldova, “Media Invest Service” also manages the email service mail.ru russian social network odnoklassniki.ru.
In early February 2020, there was a massive misinformation by the moldovan public about the personal attacks on Western officials. The methods used and the content was similar to russian misinformation. Media outlets controlled by Igor Dodon, however, often amplified false narratives even after russian media deleted the information.
Thus, Igor Dodon opened the gates wide for Russian oligarch Igor Ceaika to get his hands on the moldovan media. It is another example of how Ceaika obtains important financial benefits on the backs of the Moldovan people. Igor Ceaika has a dubious reputation in Moscow, in the world, and is on the list of international sanctions imposed on Russian oligarchs.
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