MiG-29 fighter jets and Moldovan politics: revelations of a former U.S. official
By Vlad Spânu
Washington, DC, Jan. 31, 2006 (Moldova.org) -- E. Wayne Merry, a former Pentagon and U.S. State Department official, speaking on Tuesday in Washington at a briefing organized by the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, revealed details of the 1997 government-to-government deal where the United States purchased twenty one used MiG-29 fighter jets from Moldova. Merry, who is now a senior associate at the American Foreign Policy Council, referred to a recent decision of the Moldovan court that sentenced former defense minister of the Republic of Moldova, Valeriu Pasat, to 10 years jail time on grounds of selling these MiGs to the U.S. government at price lower than jets value. Charges were that Pasat had defrauded the Moldovan state budget by approximately $55 million through having sold the MiGs to the United States and not to a third party, which reportedly offered more.
The accusation has nothing to do with reality, believes Merry, since “it was not a ‘blue book’ price that would reflect the market value since there was no legitimate international market for these aircraft, there was a black market.” The U.S. government “did not want these jets to get into wrong hands and it offered Moldova a deal after it learned that the potential purchaser was Iran,” stated Merry. This was after Moldova previously sold some of its MiGs to Yemen in dubious circumstances. He also added that the U.S. government made clear to Moldova that should these fighter jets be sold on the black market, Moldova could face international sanctions initiated by the United States that would be of higher price for Moldova that it could get from sales.
Merry, who served as regional director for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, was one of the central 
figures in negotiating with the Moldovan government the purchase of the MiGs that had dual-nuclear capability. "We offered [Moldova] a single sum payment in cash in exchange for getting these [fighter jets] permanently off the market," plus excess defense articles, said Merry. The deal was meant to “meet the asymmetric goals” of both countries—Moldova would get the needed cash and the U.S. would have these MiGs disposed.
The former US official stated that the court decision was “politically motivated” and the whole lawsuit was conducted in the way the “Soviet jurisprudence” was conducted: secret investigation, inflated charges. He alluded about Pasat’s opposition to the Communist Party of Moldova (during March 2005 parliamentary elections), as well as the stance of the current Moldovan government with Russia’s energy policy towards Moldova—Pasat is an adviser to Anatoly Chubais, Russian energy giant RAO UES’ general manager, thus making Pasat an easy target. Merry underlined that legal depositions of John Todd Stewart, former U.S. Ambassador to Moldova, and his own were not taking into consideration by the court.
Wayne Merry believes that the Moldovan court has indirectly accused the U.S. government of “taking advantage of a small and weak [Moldova]” back in 1997. The court decision could be read as “use of American funds in international transaction to conduct swindling,” added Merry, and this should be of interest to the U.S. Congress and U.S. government. He suggested a congressional investigation on this case in the United States. He elaborated further that should there be “criminal investigation [in the U.S.], it will prove that the Pasat case is valid, and if there is no basis for criminal prosecution in this country, than there should be no charge in Moldova either," believing in Pasat's innocence in the MiG case.
Another important factor seen by Merry was that the decision of selling the MiGs to the United States was made by then President of Moldova Petru Lucinschi, not Pasat, and it was a political decision. On the contrary, Pasat was a “difficult negotiator,” he wanted a better deal for his country, concluded E. Wayne Merry.
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