This Sunday, October 20, the race should have been won in advance. But until the last minute, the camp of Moldovan President Maia Sandu trembled. Citizens called to the polls in the referendum on membership of the European Union (EU) kept the presidential candidate in suspense. After obtaining the opening of negotiations with the EU last June, the referendum seemed to be no more than a formality for the pro-European president, as the “yes” had been leading the polls for many months.
But at the end of the count, only 50.45% of the votes were in favor of the country’s membership. A twist denounced the same evening by Maia Sandu: “Criminal groups acting with foreign forces hostile to our national interests attacked our country with tens of millions of euros, lies and propaganda,” he said. -she writes on the social network X, denouncing “an unprecedented attack on democracy” in Moldova. Behind this destabilization, a name resonates: that of Ilan Shor, the king of corruption.
At the head of a network of corruption
The one whom Western intelligence nicknames “the man from the Kremlin” would have orchestrated a system of buying votes, corrupting 300,000 Moldovan voters, according to figures from President Maia Sandu, or 12% of the votes cast. And this, using a well-established mechanism. With a chatbot, the organization offered voting for a fee. The voter was thus offered between 50 and 100 euros for a “no”, according to the director of the national police Viorel Cernauteanu. A considerable sum for a Moldovan whose average salary was 630 euros in 2023. In the event that the voter’s polling station voted a majority “no” in the referendum, the latter was to receive almost 250 euros.
A bet (almost winning) for Moldovan Ilan Shor, who was jubilant when he saw the “no” at the top of the votes during the night from Sunday to Monday. “It’s a rout. The Moldovan people have spoken. Sandu, have you heard? […] Even with enormous administrative resources, arrests, ballot stuffing, they threw you out with a bang,” he wrote on the messaging application Telegram to celebrate his hypothetical victory.
An oligarch on the run
This is not the oligarch’s first attempt. During the summer, a study conducted by the WatchDog think tank, and highlighted by Euractivrevealed that Ilan Shor and one of his counterparts Veaceslav Platon had spent more than 136,000 euros to spread pro-Russian campaigns on Facebook. A new action reaffirming Moldovan ties with Russian power.
To understand the relationship between Ilan Shor and Russia, we have to go back to 2015. That year, the Israeli-Moldovan entered politics and became mayor of Orhei, a town in central Moldova. The opportunity for the converted businessman to lead anti-European and, above all, pro-Russian movements. Two years later, the thirty-year-old was found guilty of embezzling a billion dollars from three Moldovan banks, earning him a 15-year prison sentence. For him, there is no doubt: these are political reprisals. The oligarch then had no choice but to flee to Israel, his native country, then to Moscow where he obtained Russian nationality.
Since then, the fugitive has increased his actions against the Moldovan government currently in power. Activities of concern for Maia Sandu, outgoing president and candidate for the second round of the presidential election on November 3. Delightful activities for his rival, Alexander Stoianoglo.