Integrity

Spokesman of Chisinau City Hall, with a luxury house and beneficiary of financial aid from budget

Colaj CIJM. Foto: CIJM, Facebook
Author: Viorica Zaharia
14/04/2016 54376

Vadim Branzaniuc, aged 33, managed to get a fortune of some millions of lei in just two years while he served as Head of the Division of Public Relations of the City Hall. Meanwhile, the civil servant was elected interim secretary of the Chisinau Municipal Council. He owns a two-story house in Petricani, Riscani sector, which he built in 2012-2014, show cadastral documents. The house has an accessory building and a garage for two cars. Letter “B” (first letter of his surname) is printed on the front wall of the house. Except this luxury house, in 2013 Branzaniuc received material aid from the municipal budget estimated at 72,000 lei.  He was paid from public money a part of the interest of a loan taken for building his house. He used to raise a salary of only 2,000 lei and did not own a house before he was elected head of Division of Public Relations.

Letter “B” (first letter of his surname) is printed on the front wall of the house

The house of Vadim Branzaniuc has a surface of 146 square meters, is built from limestone; the garage with a surface of 42,6 square meters is made from ferro-concrete; the gates are made from iron and the fence surrounding the house is made from limestone as well. According to some estimates of the State Agency Cadastru, all these cost 1.515.590 lei. By 2009, the civil servant did not own a house, except an agricultural land in Truseni and a car BMW, 2002. Except these two goods, he reported in his statement on property for 2009 an annual salary of 32.068 lei, about 2.672 lei per month.  He was main specialist within the Division of Public Relations. In 2010, he was elected head of this Division. In 2011, Vadim Branzaniuc bought 2 new cars that cost more than half of a million of lei - 652.000 lei - a car Land Rover Freelander, 2011, purchased in the same year and a Skoda Octavia, 2011.

Luxury home built urgently                   

The following year, in April 2012, Vadim Branzaniuc owned the land in Petricani that costs 362,000 lei. On 27 June he got construction authorization and by the end of the same year (December 20, 2012) more than half of the house was built, according to a technical notice registered at Cadaster. On September 2, 2014 the house was passed in the house acts as completed.

"I declared all income sources. I made statements on property every year. In 2012, I sold 4 plots purchased in 2006 in Dumbrava, 28 acres in all.  Using this money, I bought the current plot and I built this house ", replied Vadim Branzaniuc, when he was asked what funds he used to build his luxury house, as he is paid by budget means.

Garage of family Branzaniuc is built for two cars. According to the declaration on income of the civil servant, he owns 2 cars, a new car Skoda Superb, 2014 purchased in leasing at the price of  22, 000 euros and a car Land Rover which  the spokesperson said that he leased to a company. Skoda Superb was broken into in the morning of April 5 while it was in the yard. Vadim Branzaniuc wrote about it on Facebook. This car was purchased in 2014 after the owner sold a car Skoda Octavia, 2011.

Currently, Vadim Branzaniuc receives a salary estimated at 100.000 lei annually like his wife.  Also, in 2013, the civil servant received 20.000 euros at the christening party of one of his children and in 2014; he received a donation estimated at 30.000 euros from a person called Anatolie Tomulescu. Vadim Branzaniuc said that he was his father-in-law who had worked legally in Israel for 12 years.  

He received financial aid to pay the interest on the loan for luxury house

The statement on property for 2014 of Branzaniuc reveals 4 banking credits, contracted in 2012 and 2013 and 2 in 2014. He loaned a sum of 1,1 million lei. One loan expires this year and the other - in 2018 and 2019. The servant gets a monthly salary of about 9,000 lei and he said that he can repay the money: "Last year my family received a significant income and every year is the same. I have my salary, salary of my wife and money from my parents. I have to pay the loans and the car in leasing."

On June 27, 2013, Chisinau Municipal Council adopted a decision that ruled to allocate to Vadim Branzaniuc "financial support from the municipal budget in the amount of 10 percent annually of bank interest approved under the agreement of mortgage loan". The decision does not write about the amount, but in the statement of income, the spokesman announced that it is about 72.236 lei which Chisinau City Hall transferred for 17 months. "It was the Council's decision to grant me aid for house construction - 10% interest. There are many people in the city who benefit from such aids, about 200-300 people", explained Vadim Branzaniuc. According to the decisions of the Municipal Council published in 2013, other 2 employees of City Hall benefited from such aids.

Also, we learned that the aid is intended for employees of subdivisions of Chisinau Municipal Council and councilors who do not own houses. Under a regulation, they receive money from the municipal budget to pay 10% interest on the loan for housing. CV of Vadim Branzaniuc is not published on the website of Chisinau City Hall.  We learned from the press releases of the Liberal Party that he is the deputy-chairman of the Territorial Organization of the Liberal Party of Riscani sector, headed by MP Iurie Darda.

This investigation was carried out within the Campaign "Journalists for Transparency in Public Funds Management" organized by the Center for Investigative Journalism, with the support of the Good Governance Program of Soros Moldova Foundation. The donor institution does not influence in any way the subject and content of published investigations.

 

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