Not all mayors and district heads know they should make their income statements public

No mayor, district head or district councilor has published the income statement on the official websites of the institutions that they head because many of them do not know that they are obliged to do it by law. In a communiqué, the Association of Independent Press (API) says the lawmakers and ministers also do not hurry to make their tax returns public, Info-Prim Neo reports. According to the Association, the only income statement published on the Government's website until February 16 is the statement of Prime Minister Vlad Filat. The income statements of six ministers (Iurie Leanca, Marcel Raducan, Gheorghe Salaru, Mihail Shleahtitski, Valentina Buliga, and Andrei Usatyi), Deputy Prime Ministers Eugen Carpov and Mihai Moldovanu, and of the president of the Academy of Sciences Gheorghe Duca have been posted neither on the Government's website nor on the websites of the public institutions that they head. Of the 101 MPs, only Speaker Marian Lupu published his income statement on the official website of the Parliament. Vadim Enicov, a member of the central income statements examination commission, stated for the API that the persons who do not submit such statements should be held accountable. “They should be reprimanded, warned or dismissed. I think the last is the best solution as it would make other officials declare their incomes. If the penalties do not produce results, legal action is taken and the person is fined or imprisoned,” Vadim Enicov said. However, no servant has been penalized for avoiding making their incomes and property public. Three more public servants published their tax returns on official websites during February 8-16. These are: Minister of Culture Boris Focsa, Deputy Minister of Education Loretta Handrabura, and the Governor of Gagauzia Mihail Formuzal. As many as 26 servants have made their income statements known so far. The deadline is March 3. The Association of Independent Press carries out the campaign “Property in Sight” that is aimed at making the incomes and property of government officials more transparent.