Officials of the Ministry of Health, Labor and Social Protection in charge of blood transfusion cooperate with the investigators following the arrest of the director of the National Blood Transfusion Center Svetlana Cebotari and the Center’s jurist, who are suspected of rigging tender contests, Denis Cernelea, secretary of state at the Ministry, stated in a news conference centering on the COVID-19 vaccination process, IPN reports.

The director of the National Blood Transfusion Center, the institution’s jurist and a vice director of the Public Procurement Agency were arrested by officers of the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office. The three are suspected of misusing power by fixing tender contests in the field of blood transfusion.

Simultaneously, the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office instituted legal proceedings against a business entity for swindle attempt. With the participation of the administration of the National Blood Transfusion Center, the entity organized the installation of a plasmapheresis machine inside the Bălți Municipal Hospital, which was to be financed with foreign funds. In reality, without being imported, the given medical equipment was taken from the National Blood Transfusion Center.