The largest part of the Government’s reserve fund in 2012 went on national awards and medals. About 15 million lei was allocated for the purpose, i.e. 34.8% of the fund. The information is contained in a study made by the Association for Participatory Democracy ADEPT, IPN reports.

Study author Vitalie Iovita said the costs for natural disasters and accidents decreased from 21% in 2011 to 7% in 2012. But the expenses for official trips, exhibitions, symposiums and forums increased swiftly. Last year, these expenses represented 20% of the reserve fund, as against 11% in 2011. This type of costs is predictable and should have been included in the budgets of the responsible institutions, according to the author.

Another study author Eugen Hristev said that the process of adopting Government decisions by which resources are allocated from the reserve fund was characterized by a low level of transparency. Only 47% of the documents were included in the agenda of the executive’s meetings even if the information about the use of the fund is of public interest and this area is regulated by the Law on the Decision-Making Process.

The study reveals the necessity of improving the practices of forming and administering the reserve fund at legislative and normative levels. The experts said that given the more frequent natural disasters in Moldova, there should be created an intervention fund that may include budget and non-budget money. Many of the costs covered from the reserve fund can be covered from other sources and the public money should be used only in such extreme cases as an economic crisis.

The study was carried out within a project implemented with financial support from the Soros Foundation Moldova/ Law Program.