Moldova’s Prime Minister Proposes Selling Prison No. 13 for Commercial Development
Moldovan Prime Minister Vasile Tofan has called a government meeting to discuss selling Prison No. 13 in central Chisinau. The proposal would free up the valuable land for commercial development.
His argument was simple and highly pragmatic.
“We have a prison in central Chisinau. We keep inmates on the most expensive land in the city. With all due respect, they could be housed somewhere in Bacioi or outside the city,” Tofan said.
He also suggested what could replace the prison.
“Let’s build a hotel or office buildings,” he proposed.
When the discussion turned to the land’s value, the prime minister began speculating about its price.
“In the most luxurious location, where the land is worth — I don’t even want to think how much — €50,000 or €100,000 per are,” he said.
Tofan did not specify how many hectares the prison occupies in the capital’s center. However, he stressed that current prison conditions “do not always meet the required standards.”
Apparently, a hotel overlooking parliament would meet those standards.
A New Prison Project Delayed for 13 Years
The irony is that Moldova has been trying to build a new prison since 2013. Since then, the project has faced repeated delays. Construction work was also halted due to an alleged “lack of funding.”
Yet funding was available. In 2013, Moldova received a €39 million loan from the Council of Europe Development Bank to build a new prison. The project also received a €1 million grant, along with additional funding from the Moldovan government.
In 2019, the loan increased by another €10 million, bringing the total to €49 million. Meanwhile, Moldovans continued paying interest on the borrowed money.
Despite all this spending, the new prison has never materialized.
There is another important detail: Prison No. 13 is housed in a 19th-century cultural heritage building. However, this does not appear to concern the prime minister. What troubles him is that “criminals are sitting on luxury real estate.”
The historical significance of the building, its architectural value and the possibility of restoration were all left out of the discussion.
What Do People Who Have Never Been in Prison Think?
Social media users were quick to react to the proposal.
“Once again, Tofan is speaking like a businessman. Perhaps this motive will finally push the authorities to build a new prison — something they have failed to do for 13 years, even though Moldova has been repaying the loan taken out for the project all this time,” journalists from Channel 5 observed.
Sociologist Vitalie Sprînceană offered a sharp parody of the prime minister’s reasoning.
“Government offices and parliament are also located in central Chisinau, and both are completely useless. We have ministers and MPs occupying the most expensive land in the city. With all due respect, they could hold their meetings somewhere in Bacioi,” he wrote.
He added that the land in central Chisinau should generate revenue for the state.
“For example, we could plant corn and sunflowers there,” he suggested sarcastically.
Activist Tatiana Crețu was even more scathing. She pointed out that the authorities had struggled to find a buyer for the Zarya Hotel in the city center. An auction had failed to attract interested bidders.
“But you want to build a hotel on the prison site? Ge-ni-us. Milei is nervously smoking on the sidelines, Ireland is watching us with envy, and investors are pushing each other out of the way to get into Moldova,” she wrote.
Blogger Dmitry Chubashenko suggested another way to make money from the prison.
“You could also make a handsome profit by releasing some VIP inmates,” he quipped.
Who Will Get Chisinau’s Valuable Prison Land?
If the authorities have failed to build a new prison for more than a decade, why should things suddenly change now?
The answer, the article suggests, is simple: until now, there was no such valuable piece of land in the city center to motivate the authorities.
When money is at stake, the prime minister’s plans suddenly gain fresh momentum. The question is who will become the next occupant of this “luxury location”: a hotel, a business center or, as some commentators suggest, a cornfield.
In any case, according to Tofan’s reasoning, prisoners do not deserve such prime real estate.
