The Fall of Plahotniuc and a New Hope for Moldova

By Matthew Ehret

In June 2019, the small landlocked nation of Moldova found itself in a life or death struggle between two opposing futures: Oligarchs like the notorious Vladimir Plahotniuc had worked diligently for years to bring this nation into the hull of the collapsing NATO-EU Titanic while nationalists sought to re-align Moldova’s future with the new emerging Multipolar Alliance led by China and Russia.

The greatest moment of decision (until now) occurred in June 2019 when a power struggle occurred that was shaped by the infamous Vladimir Plahotniuc who attempted to run a coup against a coalition government that had a different idea of Moldova’s future.

Vlad Plahotniuc: Deep State Tool

A renowned kleptocrat whom by all accounts is known as the richest man in Moldova, Plahotniuc was a media and advertising mogul controlling the vast majority of the news, and entertainment of the small nation who with the support of Victoria Nuland, took charge of the pro-EU Democratic Party from December 2016. It was known by all that Plahotniuc was the hidden hand controlling the state and aspired to make that power official by becoming Prime Minister.

Coordinating closely with the American Ambassador Chaudhry between 2009-2011, Moldovan pro-EU parties launched a 2009 “Twitter revolution” which nearly saw a color revolution turn the small land locked nation upside down. Pro-EU parties took control of government and ushered in EU association agreements in 2014 alongside  Georgia and Ukraine with NATO’s bureaucrats salivating at the prospect of assimilating all three.

With such a powerful machine supporting them, Plahotniuc and other local Moldovan kleptocrats had every reason to feel as though they had the power of gods… but with this hubris came a fair dose of sloppiness.

“The Theft of the Century” and Its Aftermath

Working closely with Israeli-Moldovan businessman Ilan Shor, Plahotniuc carried out a blatant “theft of the century” to the tune of $1 billion stolen from Moldova (representing 1/8^th of the nation’s GDP) between 2011-2014. The model was simple and based on the use of offshore shell companies which laundered money and received fraudulent loans issued by the Moldovan Central Bank. That bank had itself taken over three major financial institutions which extended fraudulent loans and businesses controlled by Ilan Shor and others within Plahotniuc’s network to the tune of $1 billion. $100 million were used directly by Plahotniuc to purchase, banks, businesses, hotels and other luxury real estate around Europe and Moldova.

In spite of his control of mass media, news of this “theft of the century” spread widely and public tolerance for Plahotniuc sank to new lows with a 96% disapproval rating. His machine fell from favor and the pro-Russian Socialist Party again took power under Igor Dodon who accelerated Moldova’s observer status in the Eurasian Economic Union.

From 2017-2019, the Plahotniuc apparatus licked its wounds, regrouped, and waited for the right moment to strike… and on June 7, 2019 that moment came.

Plahotniuc Attacks and Trips

From June 7-15^th a dual power struggle erupted between Plahotniuc’s Democratic Party vs a new coalition government formed by Igor Dodon and Maia Sandu’s ACUM with the Constitutional Court (packed with Plahotniuc partisans) calling the government illegitimate. The Democrats staged demonstrations and blocked state buildings for days. Everything was in place for a coup.

The only missing ingredient was the expected American support that had always been there for Plahotniuc and the Trans Oil Machine which ran Moldova for decades.

When this support was surprisingly rejected by U.S. Ambassador Hogan, and a Moldovan inquiry began into the role played by Plahotniuc in the earlier crime of the century, the oligarch lost no time to run to the USA to seek asylum.

In May 2020, Moldovan prosecutors charged Plahotniuc again and sought extradition from the USA where he has been holed up illegally in Florida.

Why do I say “illegally”?

Because on January 9, 2020, the USA State Department annulled his VISA, with Pompeo declaring on January 13^th: “I am designating former Moldovan official and oligarch Vladimir Plahotniuc due to his involvement in significant corruption. In his official capacity, Plahotniuc was involved in corrupt acts that undermined the rule of law and severely compromised the independence of democratic institutions in Moldova…”

The fearful oligarch has taken the unprecedented decision to launch a last Hail Mary effort to save his skin by suing the US State Department on June 11 2020.

The question now remains:

Who is protecting Plahotniuc?

It is obvious that the deep state that ran Moldova’s 2009-2016 EU/NATO integration is no longer the sole force driving US foreign policy and a fight between this apparatus and the Trump presidency has been waging for four years. Plahotniuc’s current status in Florida indicates powerful forces are protecting him.

The fact that within the same Florida luxury complex that Plahotniuc has been seen living in, also contains a $2.2 million condo owned by Trans Oil executive Dmitriy Kurilo should be taken seriously. The fact that Kurilo’s purchase was carried out by Trans Oil president Vaja Jhashi to whom Kurilo gave powers of attorney should also be considered. The connection of these figures to former U.S. Ambassador Asif Chaudhry who sits on Trans Oil’s board of directors and last served as the architect of Obama’s “Asia Pivot” while serving as advisor to the Chief of the NAVY in the Pentagon from 2011-2014 should also not be ignored. Lastly the fact that the Trans Oil group’s monopoly over Moldovan agriculture was made possible by multimillion-dollar U.S. government loans granted to the company while Chaudhry was the American Ambassador to Moldova is worth holding in mind.

We already know there are many two faced figures within the Trump presidency who project one patriotic face publicly yet who have actively worked against Trump’s oft-stated desires to have “good relations with Russia and China”, rebuild American manufacturing and end the “forever wars”. Bolton and Bannon were two of them, but Pompeo himself is another. Even former director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell had worked for Plahotniuc on various occasions.

Then there is the matter of international support. For example, France’s Interpol has stalled repeatedly from issuing an international arrest warrant even though both Russian and Moldovan governments have made legitimate requests. Why this resistance?

So where does Moldova go from here?

Regardless of whether or not Plahotniuc is extradited, the game is up, and beginning in late 2019, Moldova began to reclaim its ancient heritage as a keystone in China’s East-West Silk Road as two major infrastructure deals worth $400 million were signed with China, including two major highways: One encircling Chisinau and the other connecting to Ukraine. Moldova’s EEU observer status may evolve to full status at any moment and within the current unstable economic climate, their place in the 17+1 group could occur more quickly than most realize.

President Dodon beautifully expressed his understanding of this process in March 2020 saying:

“We should acknowledge that this pandemic has shown ‘who is who,’ who is a real friend and who will be always by our side in need, even if they also face hard times… I will cite as an example Russia and China here because these were the first countries that responded to our request… I think one of the major achievements is that we have got rid of the oligarch regime.”