Vlad Plahotniuc

Moldova's pro-EU government amended the law on company ownership on Wednesday to end offshore secrecy and enforce maximum transparency about companies operating in or from Moldova.

The General Prosecutor's building in Chisinau, Moldova, August 18, 2021. Photo:EPA-EFE/Doru Dumitru

Moldovan anti-graft prosecutors detained General Prosecutor Alexandr Stoianoglo on Tuesday night for 72 hours on four charges related to corruption and abuse of power.

Moldovan deputies taking a vote in the Parliament, Photo: EPA/Doru Dumitru

General Prosecutor Alexandr Stoianoglo earlier on Monday said approval of the lifting of immunity was needed "to detain, search for, arrest and prosecute the deputy". Jardan was promptly detained for 72 hours right after the session ended.

The US embassy in Moldova reacted angrily on Thursday after the Moldovan parliament cancelled the sale of the former Republican Stadium in Chisinau intended for a new US embassy.

Moldova's General Prosecutor, Alexandr Stoianoglo, on Monday said the fugitive tycoon Vlad Plahotniuc, the former leader of the Democratic Party, PD, had illegally got hold of 100 million US dollars from the banking system.

Support in the Moldovan parliament for Prime Minister Ion Chicu's coalition government is slipping away, as the Socialist Party, PSRM, and its Democratic Party, PD, allies now only hold 54 of the 101 seats in the legislature - a majority of three.

The US embassy in Chisinau announced on Thursday evening that procedures to send Vlad Plahotniuc back to Moldova have already been launched but that he cannot be deported quickly.

Party and the centre-left former ruling Democratic Party led by ex-Prime Minister Pavel Filip signed an agreement on Monday to split the cabinet portfolios between them.

A reported bid for Romania's Prima TV by fugitive Moldovan oligarch Vlad Plahotniuc threatens to further muddy the media waters between the Romanian-speaking neighbours.

The State Department announced on Monday that it will not allow Vladimir Plahotniuc or his closest relatives to enter the US because of his involvement in "corrupt acts that undermined the rule of law and severely compromised the independence of democratic institutions in Moldova".