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PHILATELIC POLICIES OF Î.S. "POȘTA MOLDOVEI" IMPS SERVICES ARE SUSPENDED IN PROTEST |
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Dear Members and Readers,
The national postal operator of the Republic of Moldova, Posta Moldovei, started a moratorium on the issuance of new postage stamps from the beginning of February 2020. On July 30 (six months later) and following the publication of a news article by Newsmaker.md (Russian) surrounding this topic, on that same day, Posta Moldovei announced the return to issuing postage stamps, starting at the beginning of August and accused the news article of containing "misinformation". In their press release (Romanian) dated August 31, Posta Moldovei claims that the reason for this stoppage was the COVID-19 pandemic. However, in Moldova, the special regime regarding the COVID-19 pandemic came into effect on March 19, approximately 48 days after the original moratorium was imposed. During this six month period, when we witnessed the apparent, de facto abandonment of the National Philatelic Plan for 2020, we also witnessed the departure of the entire staff from the Philatelic Editorial Section "TIMBROFIL", either by dismissal or by resignation. Additionally, the long-term contract (since 2011) with the printing house "Nova Imprim", was ended and a public tender process for the new contract was initiated. The results of this tender (Romanian) show that Posta Moldovei accepted the bid of "Tipografia Centrala" for a price of 2,000,000 Lei. The bid from "Nova Imprim" was 1,225,200.00 Lei. However, the Posta Moldovei press release still claims it made a saving of 800,000. These are facts, not misinformation. I will not speculate as to the motives behind all of these decisions but the facts cannot be ignored and give me grave cause for concern. I cannot ignore such an apparent disregard of national cultural heritage. In all good conscience, it becomes impossible for me to continue my goal of promoting Moldovan Philately under the current circumstances.In protest at these policies and in solidarity with the former employees, all IMPS services are suspended and will remain so until I have a full understanding of the realities of the situation. With sincere regrets, Niall Murphy
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