Administration of Apa-Canal Edinet suspected of corruption

The chief engineer and other executives of Apa-Canal Edinet are suspected of corruption and misuse of power, Info-Prim Neo reports. During a news conference on November 24, Oleg Putintica, division head at the Ministry of the Interior, said that Apa-Canal Edinet connected illegally a company named Cioltanel-Agro to the aqueduct, without formulating the necessary documents and without charging money for connection. “Several persons there are suspected of corruption. The works were carried out, but the company did not take money for them. The bookkeeping documents do not indicate the connections and payments for connection. The economic entity could not be connected to the aqueduct without the consent of the company's administration,” Oleg Putintica said. He also said that the agricultural company Cioltanel-Agro consumed illegally 57,000 cubic meters of water during three months of the connection, which represents about 1.5 million lei. Oleg Putintica stressed that the inferiors observed the larger costs as the daily losses exceeded the norm three times, but the administration of Apa-Canal only asked the Edinet City Council to raise the water charges. The Council was not informed about those costs so that it agreed to increase the charges for private individuals by 2 lei. If found guilty, the culprits would serve up to six years in jail or would be fined 10,000 to 20,000 lei, and would be deprived of the right to hold a particular post or to carry out a particular activity for a period of up to five years.