Moldovan deputy PM says salaries of railway employees his priority, of competent ministry

The salaries of the employees of the Railway of Moldova (CFM) represent my priority and the one of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Regional Development (MIDR). In recent months, I have been in constant dialogue with CFM's leadership, in order to find quick solutions. Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Infrastructure and Regional Development Vladimir Bolea today made statements to this effect in a social media posting, in the context of the railway workers' protest in the centre of Chisinau.

"Unfortunately, this institution has been systematically destroyed, and the legacy left behind is the cause of this financial shortage that affects CFM employees," Bolea noted.

According to the official, the enterprise now has a director tasked with a clear mission: to address the situation and pay salaries to the employees.

"CFM must generate revenue and honor its commitments for the employees' work, and we will provide all necessary support and focus on policies and creating conditions for CFM to become a sustainable institution. We stand by the people and provide solutions," said Vladimir Bolea.

As of 13 March, the Railway of Moldova has been led by Sergiu Cotelnic. The nomination of the new director was announced by Deputy Prime Minister Vladimir Bolea. He said that the proposal had come from the unions and described Cotelnic as capable of leading this strategic sector.

According to the official, changes must be made at CFM, employees must receive their salaries and the government will support the new director to handle the situation.

"We ruled to provide diesel from the state reserve for the next four months, as   we understand that CFM's goal is the transportation of goods; financial resources are quite limited, and the government wants the enterprise to be functional," Bolea stated.

For his part, Sergiu Cotelnic said he already had ideas on how to pay the employees' salaries and would activate all technical resources to optimize CFM's activity.

The position of director at Moldova's Railway became vacant after the former head, Serghei Tomsa, had submitted his resignation two weeks ago.

Several CFM employees today protested, demanding the payment of salary arrears and urgent measures to address the critical situation in the railway sector.