Each area of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Research has issues related to the management of public money and lacks public money financing criteria, said the Minister of Education, Culture and Research, Liliana Nicolaescu-Onofrei, during the TV8 show "Cutia Neagra".
According to the minister, once in office, she noted that financing criteria of sports federations are unclear. Previous financing did not take into account Moldova's eligibility to sports events.
Moreover, events that do not qualify athletes for other competitions have been funded. "Some cases are sports tourism activities." The minister says that the ministry's efforts are now aimed at auditing public money management in this sector.
Also, Liliana Nicolaescu-Onofrei says that transparency and clarity are needed in the area of culture, especially in cultural projects financing.
The minister added that some people pay close to nothing for renting out space. "At the National Center for the preparation of the Olympic teams, a room of over 200 square meters is leased at only 1600 lei per month by former PDM lawmaker Constantin Țuțu and his acolytes, while the athletes' dormitory managed by the Center is in a deplorable state”, says the minister. In contrast, the opposite occurs when some sports schools have to pay high rent.
The list of violations, according to the minister of education, also includes "the fraudulent project Chisinau Arena, which the Ministry of Education, Culture and Research previously vouched for".
The minister says she cannot talk about corruption schemes in education and research. "A national plan for research and innovation has recently been approved, with distinct priority areas. Until recently the research institutes were managed by the Academy of Sciences, who also managed the funds. Now, with this program I think we will be able to channel funding in another way, based on merit”, concluded Liliana Nicolaescu-Onofrei.
The minister of education noted that local public authorities should tackle existing problems. At the same time, the community must report issues and put pressure on local public authorities if they do not react.
