All the sanatoriums in Moldova will be soon privatized, while the pensioners and persons who are unable to work will have to pay for the sanatorium services, the chairman of the public association “Consumers’ Protection” Piotr Gutul said in a news conference at IPN. According to him, by such an act the human rights and the Law on Consumer Protection will be violated.

Piotr Gutul said in August he asked the Ministry of Economy and the Ministry of Regional Development and Construction to provide information about the privatization of the Chisinau sanatorium “Constructorul”. “To my inquiry, I received an answer saying that this sanatorium was included in the list of state property that will be privatized because it is not a strategic facility for the state interests and because it provides services in a liberalized area,” he stated, adding the authorities said the sanatorium will be privatized because it needs investments in improving the quality of the prophylaxis and treatment services.

Piotr Gutul also said that he found out from other sources that all the sanatoriums will privatized this way. “If this thing happens, the state will cause moral and material damage to society, especially to pensioners and persons who are unable to work. These persons will not have enough money to pay for these services. Under the Constitution, the respecting and protection of the person are a major duty of the state and all the Moldovans are equal before the law and the public authorities,” he stated.

According to the organization’s chairman, the law provides that the pensioners and persons with disabilities benefit from free medical-sanatorium services, but this will not be possible after the privatization. The association’s member Nicolae Milev told the same news conference that the pensioners will be unable to pay the tickets to sanatoriums that cost over 2,000 lei.

Piotr Gutul also said that the association will go to the ECHR because the human rights are violated by the privatization of all the sanatoriums.

The pensioners and persons with disabilities are usually issued with tickets to sanatoriums once in three years, while the war invalids once a year.