The head of the Information and Security Service of Moldova Oleksandr Mustiatse said that Russia spent about $5.7 million to overthrow the democratic government and destabilize the situation in Moldova.
This is reported by Newsmaker.
According to Mustiatse, Russia is trying to influence the results of the elections in Moldova with the help of a criminal group led by fugitive oligarch Ilan Shor. In particular, more than 90 million lei ($4.4 million) were spent in the last two months on bribing voters and illegally financing a political party associated with Shor.
According to the SIB, Shor uses several political parties, in particular "Shans" and "Shor", to destabilize the situation in Moldova.
"The amount of funding allegedly transferred [to the political party "Chance"] by the "sponsor" Yigal Shved is €1,032,737 and $280,000. During the investigation, it was established that the money for Shvedʼs accounts in Kazakhstan came from Russia from a citizen of Moldova and Russia, Viktor Hutsulyak, who is closely related to Ilan Shor and one of the Russian oligarchs," Mustyatse said.
The special service prepared a report on the activities of Shorʼs group and sent it to the Central Election Commission, the National Anti-Corruption Center and the Prosecutor Generalʼs Office of Moldova.
Whatʼs wrong with "Shore"?
The "Shor" party is a banned pro-Russian political party in Moldova. Its former head is Ilan Shor, a Moldavian pro-Russian politician, businessman, married to the Russian singer Jasmin. Now Shor is hiding abroad, because in Moldova he was sentenced to 15 years in prison in the case of the stolen billion dollars. After the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, the "Shor" party began to actively interact with the Russian authorities, deputies visited Moscow and established inter-party contacts. The party also started organizing anti-government protests, demanded the resignation of the government and called on the government to resign.
In October 2022 , the USA introduced sanctions for "Kremlinʼs attempts to influence Moldova", Ilan Shor is on the list. In the States, it is believed that his party "Shor", as well as anti-government protests, are financed by Russia.
In November 2022, the Moldovan government asked the Constitutional Court to start the procedure to declare the Shor party illegal because it promotes the interests of a foreign state and harms the countryʼs independence and sovereignty. In June 2023 , the Constitutional Court of Moldova banned the "Shor" party and dissolved it.