The analysis of the reports of the local public authorities of Nisporeni and Cantemir districts, published by the Audit Office, reveals the worsening of the situation as regards the management of public resources, compared with the previous audit (2007-2008).

In a news conference at IPN, economist Tatiana Savva, author of the Expert-Grup study “How public money is lost: synthesis of the Audit Office reports published in the fourth quarter of 2013”, said the most serious problems are those related to the procurement process, the use of money as capital investments and the management of public property.

The public authorities of the first level (villages) hold public procurement contests not in accordance with the law. They exceed the spending planned for investments and face problems in setting the spending priorities. The most serious irregularities committed by the authorities of the second level (districts) in the management of public finances refer to the planning of revenues and expenditure, labor remuneration and the number of employees.

A serious problem identified by Tatiana Savva is the misuse of money planned for education. The district budgets benefitted from allocations of 34 million lei for education from the state budget. This money was afterward redirected to certain institutions. Expert-Grup considers that this is abuse by the local public authorities.

The money from the reserve fund is also misused. Tatiana Savva said there are yet no regulations concerning the use of these resources. This money is often used for different purposes so that it is not transferred back to the state budget, as the law provides.

Expert-Grup recommended the central authorities to specify the requirements for purchasing goods and services by the local authorities in regulations. For vehicles for example, the regulations should contain common standards as regards the make, price, etc.

Expert-Grup program director Dumitru Budeanschi said that irregularities in managing the public funds continue to be committed and this is serious. The management of public money by the authorities should be followed attentively as this is an element of state security.