Ilan Shor, who had recently become chairman of the BEM Administrative Board, on 3 November appeared for the first time before the press also as the chairman of the Administrative Board of the Avia Invest company, concessionaire of Chisinau International Airport. Advisers had probably encouraged him not to avoid the press, but, instead, to fuel it with news topics that would show him in a favorable context.
On 3 and 4 November, several media outlets (TV 7, Euro TV, Pro TV, Economist, Jurnal TV, evenimentul.md) published reports/articles covering the excursion organized for the press at the Chisinau International Airport by the Russian company Avia Invest, which got to manage the airport after another Russian company, UK Komaks, had obtained it in concession by a Government decision in November 2013.
At the first examination of these materials, we can say that, with one exception, they all approach the media event that the concessionaire produced with a certain purpose from a perspective favorable for him and ignore the important elements that, if presented, would reduce the euphoria in the stories on the topic, placing them in the area of correctness and balanced information.
The materials describe in detail the “vast” modernization plans, announced by the concessionaire, but fail to mention previous criticism about the conditions of concession, which skeptics considered extremely unfavorable to the State, and the recent criticism that former prime minister Ion Sturza made on the day of the press visit (Radio Free Europe, for example, inserted this element into the report titled “Where are the promised investments into Chisinau Airport?”, aired on 04.11.2014, http://www.europalibera.org/content/article/26674493.html).
The gravest, however, is the fact that, again, with one exception, journalists in the majority of the media outlets interested in this topic did not make even the smallest effort to compare the modernization plans launched by the concessionaire a year into the contract with the investment commitments in the concession agreement between the government and the concessionaire, or at least with those that the latter had announced earlier, when they obtained the contract. The exception is Jurnal TV. This television’s report “Modernization at snail’s pace” (http://jurnaltv.md/ro/news/2014/11/4/modernizare-cu-viteza-melcului-10072209/) mentions that “investors have so far spent 65 million lei on modernization, which is only 8% of the EUR 45 million investment that must be made within the first two years of concession.”
Also, only in the Jurnal TV report one can find other important details of the contract between the government and the concessionaire, which, at a more careful glance, show that in fact the earlier criticism concerning the agreement’s unfavorable nature for the State is not lacking of some sense, because the value of the investments that the concessionaire was to make is strangely related in this agreement with the benefits that they will enjoy in advance. “After the airport reaches a passenger flow of about 2.6 million persons, other EUR 110 million shall be invested within two more years in order to build a new terminal and extend the car parking area. Works amounting to about EUR 80 million are foreseen in case the passenger flow reaches 3.2 million persons per year. And all that has been approved in conditions when the number of travelers through the Chisinau International Airport in 2013 did not exceed 1.3 million persons.” These are the conditions of the contract that had been criticized earlier by experts and presented to the public only by Jurnal TV. Also, only the Jurnal TV report presented another piece of information that is necessary to place the media event into the natural context: the concession of the airport was severely criticized by several analysts, who found the contest dubious after five important investors from Europe withdrew from it.
None of the other reports offers this background information to the public. The report of the TV 7 television, “Chisinau Airport to have a modernized terminal for passengers and a car parking block” (http://www.tv7.md/ro/social/aeroportul-din-chisinau-va-avea-un-terminal-modernizat-pentru-pasageri-si-o-parcare-multietajata/), describes in optimistic colors the future infrastructure of the airport, a result of its managers’ promises, including Ilan Shor, chairman of the Avia Invest administrative board, leaving no trace of doubt that it might be related with the concessionaire’s interest to publicly prove that they make the promised investments at a time of growing criticism that he does nothing but profit from the large income brought by the airport and invests only a small part of this income into its development. The report quotes in a positive light Ilan Shor, chairman of the administrative board of Avia Invest, the company that no one knows exactly how it got to receive the right of concession, but nothing is mentioned about suspicions that he had been favored in this transaction and in other transactions with public assets, such as Banca de Economii, by one or two participants of the governing coalition.
This information was presented from the same positive perspective on the organizers of the media event by other media outlets, too: Euro TV (“Modernization of the Airport in full swing”, on 04.11.2014, http://www.eurotv.md/stire-modernizarea-aeroportului-este-in-plin-proces); Pro TV (“The arrivals terminal of the Chisinau Airport is being extended. Owners promise that it will be seriously modernized”, http://protv.md/stiri/social/terminalul-de-sosire-al-aeroportului-din-chisinau-se-extinde-ce---761331.html); Economist (“The works of extension and reconstruction of the Chisianu International Airport have begun”, http://eco.md/index.php/auto-si-transport/infrastructura/item/2452-au-%C3%AEnceput-lucr%C4%83rile-de-extindere-%C5%9Fi-reconstruc%C5%A3ie-a-terminalului-aeroportului-interna%C5%A3ional-chi%C5%9Fin%C4%83u); Evenimentul.md (“Avia Invest initiated the extension and reconstruction of the Chisinau International Airport terminal”, http://evenimentul.md/avia-invest/).
In conclusion, we can say that the Moldovan media outlets that decided to present this event have distorted the message, avoiding important background information, and produced nothing but a message that manipulates public opinion. A transaction that provides pertinent reasons to believe that public authorities sacrificed national interests by giving up “the only air gates” of the Republic of Moldova to the Russian Federation (an irresponsible actor in international politics that is under the pressure of international sanctions and is economically unsound) was presented as an absolutely positive deal, for the benefit of Moldova and its citizens. Other media outlets, which neglected the topic, most likely did it because they intended to criticize the suspected beneficiaries of this transaction, and it, as may well be guessed, would lead to accusations of “attack” against an electoral contestant in full electoral campaign.
Since, in fact, every party has a media outlet under its control, an agreement was reached—“we don’t fight against each other, but promote ourselves through the channels we have.” And journalists accepted this situation, entered this game, personally or at the level of editorial policies, applying self-censorship. The contract conditions require investments into the development of the airport, which did not happen in the one year that passed. The concessionaire came to the airport when there was money on accounts, because an airport is an entity that generates permanent financial entries. After one year of work, they say that they will create a car parking block, which is extremely little in comparison with what they already receive. It is clear that the concessionaire has no intention to invest anything into the airport’s development but only a small part of the income that the airport will generate.
The Institute of Market Economy, managed by Roman Chirca, estimated that, in the 49 years of the contract, Avia Invest will obtain a profit of EUR 2 billion. “The investment that the concessionaire committed to make during this period, however, does not exceed 400 million,” the expert says.
In an interview posted today on a website that is editorially close to the government, Prime Minister Iurie Leanca underlined, though, that, in any case, the airport is actually being modernized, even though the way it had been conceded is not quite satisfying, and the alarming perspectives that the concession might “undress” Moldova in front of an eventual Russian aggression are unfounded, because the airport is still under State control.
The only component of the government that tried to oppose by challenging one of the transactions in court, Ion Hadarca’s Liberal Reformatory Party, is too small to impose its will. And since the democratic minister of economy and the liberal-democratic minister of finance have meanwhile resigned from these offices, the governing coalition can now more easily avoid the issue.
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