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Libyan jet comes to Chisinau to pick up arms bought by Latvian company

The plane took aboard armaments and property with the expired useful life

CHISINAU, September 13 (Itar-Tass) —— A Libyan Ilyushin Il-76 arrived from Benghazi to Chisinau last night for taking aboard the weapons a Latvian company had acquired from the Moldovan Army. The report caused anxiety of the local public, and the Moldovan media hurried to calm down people.

“The plane, which had only crewmembers onboard, came from Benghazi. The crew asked for landing in Chisinau because the military airfield in Marculesti, where it was supposed to land initially, was closed for landing in the night hours,” a representative of the Chisinau Airport said. The plane departed for Marculesti in the morning, she added.

“The Libyan plane arrived with the official permission of the Moldovan authorities to take aboard the cargo under a contract between Moldova and the Latvian company headquartered in Riga,” the Moldovan Defense Ministry said.

The plane took aboard armaments and property with the expired useful life. “This is an absolutely legal contract, and the list of army property liable for selling is approved by Moldovan parliament resolution N 458-XV of June 30, 2001. The Libyan plane will leave the Moldovan territory this afternoon. The cost of the loaded military property cannot be revealed, because it is a commercial secret,” the ministry said.