Anti-Mafia Movement says Foreign Ministry party does not form part of UNDP project

22.02.2012 17:06
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The party of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration that was held last yearend in a luxury club in Chisinau does not form part of the UNDP project, as Foreign Minister Iurie Leanca stated earlier. In a news conference on February 22, the Anti-Mafia Movement’s deputy head Daniela Bodrug said they received this information from the UNDP after they filed a relevant application, Info-Prim Neo reports. Daniela Bodrug said that it is not yet clear with what money that party was organized. According to her, the Ministry’s spokesperson said the money was provided by private sponsors. In several days, Prime Minister Vlad Filat said that every ministry has an internal budget and decides by itself how to use it – to pay premiums to employees or to organize such festivities. Afterward, Foreign Minister Iurie Leanca told a news conference that the event was financed within the UNDP project “Building Institutional Capacity of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration”. “To clarify the situation, we made several inquiries to international donors and to Iurie Leanca, whereby we asked whether it was money from private sponsors, public funds or foreign funds,” said Daniela Bodrug. She also said that in its answer, the UNDP said that the project did not envision such an event. They also tried to obtain the financial report from the Foreign Ministry, but such a report does not exist. However, there must be compiled four financial reports a year, while the fourth report is produced together with the annual report. “This report is presented at the end of the year. We believe that they resorted to tricks as all these facts and statements cannot be explained logically, while the Ministry’s administration does not know how to deal with this inconvenient situation,” said Daniela Bodrug. She stressed that the country is in an economic crisis, but the officials lead a glamorous life. She urged the officials to leave the brand suits, put on the dungarees and start work as their posts imply responsibility. At the end of last year, the press published pictures of representatives of the Foreign Ministry spending time in a night club in Chisinau. The Ministry’s spokesperson said it was a summing up meeting organized with money from private sponsors and from the institutions’ budget. Later, Iurie Leanca said the money for the festivity was taken from the fund for strengthening the Ministry’s capacities.