The Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources will have the possibility of employing specialists that would implement national and local environment and biodiversity protection programs by contract. Their work will be financed from the National Ecological Fund. The Government has introduced the relevant amendments to the regulations concerning the ecological funds, Info-Prim Neo reports. Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources Violeta Ivanov said that the changes were needed because there was a shortage of personnel for establishing a financial management and control system for monitoring the efficient use of the ecological funds. She also said that only three persons from the Ministry’s planning, finance and bookkeeping division are now involved in the activity of the National Ecological Fund. They also work for the Ministry, in the area of bookkeeping and financial planning, and do not manage to efficiently monitor the use of the money allocated from the Fund. At the same time, the revenues to the National Ecological Fund have increased considerably following the improvement of the mechanism for levying pollution taxes. The given revenues total over 50 million lei a year. They are expected to rise after the tax on tetra pack and plastic packaging used for certain products is introduced. In this connection, Prime Minister Zinaida Greceanai said that 52 projects have been implemented this year from the resources of the National Ecological Fund. These include local projects to restore water supply systems and sanitation and sewerage systems, to prevent soil erosion, to reconstruct natural ecosystems and conserve biodiversity.