Roman Cojuhari, director general of the Public Property Agency (PPA), has resigned as the fallout from the MoldATSA scandal continues to spread through state institutions. His departure followed that of Radu Marian, making Cojuhari the latest public official to step down amid questions about oversight at the state-owned air navigation company.
MoldATSA scandal prompts another resignation
In his resignation statement, Cojuhari accepted responsibility for what he described as insufficient scrutiny of decisions taken by the former management of MoldATSA.
He said he had decided to leave his post to protect the reputation of the Public Property Agency and its employees. At the same time, Cojuhari sought to place the controversy within the broader record of the agency during his tenure.
He cited the return of Chișinău International Airport to state administration, the registration of more than 6,000 plots of land, work on Moldova HiTech Park, and the privatisation, restructuring and reform of state-owned enterprises.
However, critics argue that these achievements are likely to be overshadowed by his role in the MoldATSA scandal and the agency’s failure to exercise sufficiently rigorous oversight of the enterprise’s management.
Critics call departures an attempt to contain fallout
Government opponents say the authorities are attempting to ease public pressure by allowing secondary figures to resign while leaving broader questions of political responsibility unanswered. They describe the departures of Marian and Cojuhari as carefully managed acts of accountability accompanied by largely formulaic statements.
Critics also predict that both officials could return to other senior or well-paid positions once public attention surrounding the controversy has subsided.
Whether the resignation leads to deeper institutional changes remains unclear. The central question is whether the authorities will limit their response to personnel changes or conduct a wider examination of appointments, salaries and financial decisions at MoldATSA.
For now, Roman Cojuhari’s departure represents another significant consequence of a controversy that continues to damage the government’s claims of professional and transparent management of state property.
