Comrat mayor accuses Gagauzia leadership of sabotaging regional development

Gagauzia leadership, under the influence of the criminal group Shor is blocking the funding of city halls in the autonomy and hindering the implementation of projects with European funds, Comrat mayor Serghei Anastasov said during Open Dialogue show.

According to the mayor, while in 2019 Gagauzia city halls received a total of 100 million lei from the autonomy's budget, in 2024 the amount dropped to less than 20 million, even though the regional budget almost doubled, reaching 1.5 billion lei. "In the last 2-3 years, Comrat city hall received less than two million lei from the autonomy's budget," he emphasized.

Due to the lack of funding, the autonomy lost a European project to build a fruit and vegetable packaging line, which would have created 400 jobs. "The government of Moldova allocated 22 million lei, but the autonomy was supposed to contribute 9 million, according to the law. They did not allocate it, and we missed the development opportunity," Anastasov said.

A similar situation was reported at Mihai Eminescu Theoretical High School in Comrat, the first Romanian-language school in the autonomy.


"The law says the autonomy must cover 50% of the costs when we attract grants, but they did not contribute anything. The Moldovan government had to intervene to complete the construction. Now, 800 children study at the high school, and we even have a waiting list," the mayor explained.


The mayor mentioned that support from Chișinău and external partners has become crucial for the region's development. Through the Ministry of Infrastructure alone, Comrat received 200 million lei for sewerage projects, a treatment plant, roads, and parks. Additionally, more than half of the localities in the autonomy benefit from funding through the European Village program.


"Today, in Gagauzia, we have dozens of projects implemented with money from the EU, Romania, Germany, or Turkey. The Comrat bypass road alone cost nearly 30 million euros, European money. Through SARD and SLP programs, we received over 5 million euros, and through the partnership with Germany – 20 million lei for the repair of schools and kindergartens. We put signs in front of each project so people know who truly helps them," emphasized Serghei Anastasov.


Anastasov stressed that the autonomy has a very good budget and that it would be normal for local representatives to assume office without violating the law by implementing regional development projects. "But now, what's happening? They only think about protests," the mayor noted. Comrat mayor said that most autonomy residents wish for a prosperous life, a job, a better salary, and excluded that they would be the organizers and supporters of the protests.

Serghei Anastasov spoke in Romanian and supported the idea of studying the official language of the Republic of Moldova in the autonomy.