The Initial 2016 Report of the 2015 Public Petition

Chronology of Public Reactions and Developments concerning the Relaunch of Bălți-Leadoveni International Airport in 2016

Summarised separately here are the reactions, ministerial statements, press articles and public developments following the civic report of 14 June 2016, which was communicated to the European Commission and the MTID.

Chronological context preceding the report: September–December 2015

• 14 September 2015 — contemporary sources reproducing the MTID communication report the cessation of operations at Bălți-Leadoveni International Airport “in connection with the withdrawal of the operating licence pursuant to the request” of Mircea Maleca, Director of the Civil Aviation Authority. The same sources separately describe the airport as being in an unsatisfactory condition, with worn and degraded infrastructure and a reduced number of flights. In the absence of the original CAA act published online, these findings are not presented here as the established legal grounds for the withdrawal. [8] [9] [10] / Also recalled here are: a) the Bălți–Timișoara charter flight of 2012 [16], which demonstrates the possibility of operating Bălți International Airport, and b) references to the inspection of baggage-handling facilities and passenger services at Bălți International Airport in the CAA Activity Plan for 2013 (link on the homepage), which likewise shows that the operation of Bălți International Airport for scheduled flights was possible.
  
• 13 December 2015 — the online petition in favour of reopening the airport is launched; this date precedes the public emergence of the Militzer & Münch project.
  
• 22 December 2015 — Moldpres announces for 11:00 at INFOTAG the press conference “A new international airport may be built in the Republic of Moldova by the Swiss holding Militzer&Munch”. On the same day, at 13:06, PRO TV publishes an article on the Swiss company’s intention to seek a 49-year concession of the airport and on the proposed investment. This is the earliest precisely dated press publication identified in the online research conducted for this update. [11] [12]. The press conference of the investors’ representative took place on 22 December 2015, while Chirinciuc commented on the project on 31 December 2015. [11] [12] [13]
  
• 24–26 December 2015 — Timpul and #diez, citing the MTID’s position, reproduce both the information concerning the cessation of operations on 14 September and the Swiss investors’ project announced on 22 December. [8] [9]
  
• 31 December 2015 — Minister Iurie Chirinciuc publishes on his blog the article “On unjustified expenditure, time and the reactivation of Bălți-Leadoveni International Airport”. He confirms that the press had already reported on Militzer & Münch’s intention, describes the proposed investment, the situation of the airport, the cessation of operations on 14.09.2015, the three reactivation options (lease, PPP, concession) and the need for an alternate airport. [13]
  
• 4–5 January 2016 — the press republishes Chirinciuc’s article and his statements concerning the concession, costs, the alternate airport and the fact that a final decision was to be taken by a fully empowered government. [14] [15]
  

June–July 2016 (and 2017) — the project remains at the centre of public debate

• Following communication to the European Commission and the MTID of the civic report prepared within the framework of the public petition, the initiative, the report and the concepts concerning development of the airport continue to circulate in the public sphere. Online sources subsequently identified in August document this continuity and present them together in the context of the debate concerning the rehabilitation of Bălți-Leadoveni. [1] [4] [5]
  
• The architectural project designed by Dumitru Negrei is also presented in this context. #diez explicitly states that the project sketch was included in a virtual petition seeking to restore the airport to operational condition. [4]
  
• From a documentary perspective, the architectural project must be distinguished from the civic report of 14 June: the former is a visual/architectural development concept, while the report is civic research material and a preliminary document intended for a future professional assessment. A second architectural project, designed by Denis Caunov, appears in 2017 at the Technical University of Moldova, Faculty of Urbanism and Architecture. Project No. 056 was presented in the European Architectural Medals – Best Diploma Projects 2017 selection.
  

9 August 2016 — the Ministry announces the pre-feasibility study

• Sputnik Moldova reports, on the basis of Minister Iurie Chirinciuc’s activity report, that by the end of 2016 the Ministry of Transport and Road Infrastructure intended to launch a pre-feasibility study concerning the rehabilitation of Bălți-Leadoveni International Airport. [1]
  
• In the same official wording, the airport is presented as infrastructure that “must become a second national passenger airport”. [1]
  

9–10 August 2016 — the study, management models and costs

• Capital Market/InfoMarket reports the Ministry’s intention to prepare the feasibility study and records three distinct options for resuming operations and modernising the airport: [2] [3] lease, modernisation within a public-private partnership, concession.
• Iurie Chirinciuc presents concession as the solution which he considered, from an economic perspective, more appropriate than continuing to maintain the airport under conditions of reduced activity. [2] [3]
  
• In the same context, expenditures of the State Enterprise Moldaeroservice and MoldATSA’s Bălți subdivision are cited: approximately MDL 17.4 million during the 2013–2015 period, according to articles reproducing the Minister’s data. [2] [3]
  

August 2016 — the need for a second national airport and an alternate airport

• Chirinciuc’s stated objective was for Bălți-Leadoveni to become “the second national passenger airport”. This wording is reproduced by several sources from the period. [1] [2] [4]
  
• Separately, the Minister invokes the absence of an alternate airport on the territory of the Republic of Moldova and indicates that the closest alternatives were in Iași and Bucharest, as well as Kyiv and Odesa. [2] [3]
  
• Within this argument, Bălți-Leadoveni is presented not only as regional infrastructure serving the north of the country, but also as infrastructure capable of fulfilling a national alternate-airport function. This latter wording is a synthesis of the arguments reported in the sources.
  
• Capital Market/InfoMarket records the interest of the Swiss holding Militzer & Münch (M&M), which had announced its willingness to take over Bălți-Leadoveni Airport under concession. [2]
  
• For the first phase, an investment of approximately EUR 30 million was indicated. [2]
  
• The works mentioned included construction of a new passenger terminal, cargo warehouses, as well as modernisation and extension of the runway, with the aim of allowing the handling of aircraft from the Embraer, Airbus and Boeing families. [2]
  
• For the second phase, additional investments of approximately EUR 10–15 million were estimated. [2]
  
• In an article of 15 August, #diez also recalls the letter of intent submitted at the end of 2015 by representatives of a Swiss company for a 49-year concession of the airport and mentions an initial investment of at least EUR 30 million. [4]
  

15–16 August 2016 — the initiative is presented within a common public context

• On 15 August, #diez publishes an article on the rehabilitation of the airport, repeats the announcement of the pre-feasibility study and the objective of a second national passenger airport, and presents photographs of the airport together with the architectural project associated with the virtual petition. [4]
  
• On 16 August, BTV publishes an article repeating the Ministry’s intention to launch the pre-feasibility study and the objective of a second national passenger airport. BTV specifies that the project sketch that appeared online was included in a virtual petition signed by people asking for Bălți-Leadoveni to become operational again. [5]
  
• These two publications are relevant to the archive because they document that, by mid-August 2016, the petition, the architectural concept and the study announced by the Ministry were being presented publicly within the same general context concerning the future of the airport. [4] [5]
  

21 August 2016 — statement concerning the feasibility study and its financing

• In PRO TV’s report on the airport renovation project, Iurie Chirinciuc uses the expression “feasibility study” and states that carrying it out would require “a few million”. [6]
  
• The Minister also states that, in the absence of support from the European Commission, internal resources would be sought to carry out the study. [6]
  
• This statement is relevant because it shows that the study was publicly presented as an undertaking that was to be carried out even if European funding was not obtained. [6]
  

23 August 2016 — the airport appears in discussions on foreign investment

• In articles concerning meetings with representatives of the Chinese business community, development of Bălți Airport for passenger transport is mentioned, while Mărculești International Airport is referred to as a cargo hub. [7]
  
• Accordingly, in August 2016 Bălți-Leadoveni appears not only in the context of the study announced by the Ministry and the interest of Militzer & Münch, but also in broader discussions concerning the attraction of foreign investment into the infrastructure of the Republic of Moldova. [7]
  

Documentary sequence: 14 September 2015 → August 2016

• 14 September 2015 — operations at Bălți-Leadoveni International Airport are reported as having been suspended in connection with the withdrawal of the operating licence, pursuant to the request of CAA Director Mircea Maleca. [8] [9] [10]
  
• 13 December 2015 — the online petition in favour of reopening the airport is launched.
  
• 22 December 2015 — the press conference devoted to the Militzer & Münch project takes place; PRO TV publishes on the same day details concerning the 49-year concession and the proposed investment. [11] [12]
  
• 31 December 2015 — Iurie Chirinciuc publishes his analysis concerning the reactivation of Bălți-Leadoveni International Airport, the Militzer & Münch project, the cessation of operations, the three reactivation models and the alternate airport. [13]
  
• 14 June 2016 — the civic initiative communicates the 86-page report as preliminary material for the preparation of a future professional feasibility study.
  
• 9 August 2016 — Iurie Chirinciuc announces the intention to begin, by the end of the year, a pre-feasibility study concerning the rehabilitation of Bălți-Leadoveni. [1]
  
• 9–10 August 2016 — the press also reports on a “feasibility study”; the lease, PPP and concession models, the costs borne by state enterprises and Militzer & Münch’s interest are presented. [2] [3]
  
• August 2016 — Bălți-Leadoveni is presented as the future “second national passenger airport”, while the Minister also invokes the need for an alternate airport in the Republic of Moldova. [1] [2] [3]
  
• 15–16 August 2016 — #diez and BTV place the petition, the architectural project and the study announced by the Ministry within the same public context concerning rehabilitation of the airport. [4] [5]
  
• 21 August 2016 — Chirinciuc explicitly speaks about the “feasibility study”, its cost and the possibility of European financing or, failing that, financing from internal resources. [6]
  
• 23 August 2016 — development of Bălți Airport for passenger transport is also mentioned in the context of discussions with Chinese investors. [7]