The Republic of Moldova will pay the damages imposed by the ECHR in the case of the "Gemini" Shopping Center building on behalf of all the judges.

The statement was made by Prime Minister Ion Chicu, at the beginning of the Government meeting on Wednesday, February 19th.

"The conviction in 2011 came after some individuals dressed in cloaks of judges by name: Vera Mancincaia, Tamara Chisca-Doneva, Ala Cobâneanu, Tatiana Vieru and Sveatoslav Moldovan. These individuals, contrary to the Constitution and any principles of law, revised 20 July 2005 a final conclusion of the SCJ in 2004 regarding a conflict between the private companies, owners of the "Gemini" complex", said Ion Chicu.

Ion Chicu said that the ECHR has made a payment order worth 70 million lei, which the state will honor.

"Instead of orienting this money for the toilet construction in schools, we must now pay this huge money to someone else," Chicu said.

For this, the budget will be rectified, more precisely, the expenses for the maintenance of judges will be reduced.

"We will go to Parliament for rectification, we cannot afford to pay the Court's decisions, but do not expect that we will cut what is appropriate for the children or the budget for aqueducts or roads," said Prime Minister Ion Chicu.

Moreover, the prime minister gave directions to the Fiscal Service and the National Integrity Authority to verify the incomes and integrity of the judges concerned.

At the same time, the General Prosecutor's Office will initiate criminal proceedings on behalf of the judges and other magistrates concerned.

According to a decision published on February 18, by the European Court of Human Rights, the Government is obliged to pay, within three months (until May 18) 1.5 million euros in the file "Gemini". Also until May 18, the building and land will be returned to the claimants.

The application in the Gemini file (Ojog and Others) was filed with the European Court of Human Rights 14 years ago, on January 13, 2006.

Since April 2019, "Gemini" has been in the possession of a group of companies that subsequently purchased the UNIC Shopping Center