Moldova's ministry denies conflict with City Hall over street repairs

The road section on 31 August 1989 Street in central Chișinău will be repaired, assures Minister of Culture of Moldova Cristian Jardan. The official stated that the project has been drafted and is now at the implementation stage, which is to be financed by the capital’s authorities.

At the same time, Jardan emphasized that there has been no conflict between the Ministry of Culture and the City Hall regarding this project, CE Report quotes MOLDPRES.

According to the minister, as early as March this year the Ministry of Culture issued all the necessary approvals to start the works, and from that moment the institution fully fulfilled its responsibilities, with no obstacles on its part.

“I am glad that, in the end, this street will be repaired by the City Hall, with the preservation of the cobblestone pavement and pedestrian functionality, as we agreed together. There was very good cooperation at the level of specialists and institutions, and this section obtained all the necessary approvals from the National Council of Historical Monuments,” Cristian Jardan said.

The minister explained that the works were initially halted after the discovery of the historic cobblestones, which required a study carried out by the National Agency for Archaeology. The analysis was conducted over two weeks, after which the approval of the National Council of Historical Monuments was requested and obtained, a mandatory condition for continuing the works.

Cristian Jardan specified that the project is finalized, approved, and ready for implementation, with the only remaining step being the allocation of the necessary funds by Chișinău City Hall.

“It is not a large sum. The project looks very good and has all the required approvals. The Ministry of Culture is directly interested in completing this road section, since most of the institutions on this street—the National Museum of History and the National Art Museum—belong to the Ministry of Culture. At present, access to these institutions is practically blocked,” the minister stressed.

He also mentioned that if funding difficulties persist, the Ministry of Culture or the Government could consider taking over this road section to complete the works.

The historic cobblestone pavement on 31 August 1989 Street in Chișinău was discovered in March 2023 during road rehabilitation works. Specialists determined that the paving dates back to the second half of the 19th century (1869–1870), making it one of the oldest preserved structures of this type in the capital. The discovery led to the temporary suspension of works and the completion of an archaeological study, followed by project approval from the National Council of Historical Monuments.

As reported by CE Report, the road section between Alexandr Pușkin Street and Mitropolit Gavriil Bănulescu-Bodoni Street has remained closed to traffic for nearly three years, becoming a sensitive issue in the city center. Although the rehabilitation project preserving the cobblestones has been approved, the works have not yet resumed, pending the allocation of the funds needed to complete the intervention.