The chairman of the Liberal Party Mihai Ghimpu denies the accusations made by the Association for the Prevention and Combating of Economic Crime and Corruption against the Ministry of the Environment headed by Gheorghe Salaru, who was proposed by the PL. The association said that significant damage was caused to the budget by illegally selling irrigation pipes in Stefan-Voda district, IPN reports.

Mihai Ghimpu said the pipes were sold based on a Government decision of 2002. They were estimated at over 2 million lei. The pipes were 90% worn-out. A group of councilors from Talmaza, Stefan Voda filed an application to the Prosecutor’s Office of Stefan Voda, asking taking legal action over the sale of pipes. But a criminal case wasn’t started owing to the lack of evidence.

”Those who gave the news conference manipulated and speculated. This is because the PL does not want to vote for a Premier who betrayed the European integration idea and who resorts to influence peddling and abuse of power,” said Mihai Ghimpu.

On April 3, the leader of the Association for the Prevention and Combating of Economic Crime and Corruption Andrei Donica said the Ministry of the Environment and its agencies caused damage of over 11 million lei to the budget as a result of the illegal sale of irrigation pipes in Stefan-Voda. According to him, the pipes bought by a company for slightly over 2 million lei are now sold on the market for 13 million lei. The pipes laid during the Soviet period for irrigation are intentionally destroyed in Moldova so as to ask for grants for irrigation from the European countries then.