Subsidies paid on false documents

According to an audit report of the Court of Accounts, 1.5 million of the 400 million lei allotted in 2010 for the Farming Subsidization Fund were paid on documents containing false information, Info-Prim Neo reports. The audit results show 5 cases when the Agency for Payments and Intervention in Agriculture, which manages these funds, broke the deadlines for examining applications and illegally granted subventions of 56,000 lei. Some of the beneficiaries have split investments by creating several enterprises headed by the same people. The amount of irregular subsidies rose to 325,000 lei. According to the same report, several companies obtained subsidies for the purchase of farming machinery and irrigation equipment, even though they were not eligible, as they had accumulated debts since 2004-2006. Other irregularities regarding the eligibility of subsidy beneficiaries were discovered as well. Petru Maleru, head of the Agency for Payments and Intervention in Agriculture, explained the irregularities on the gaps in legislation, which permit various interpretations some have profited from. "Besides, it's beyond the Agency's capacity, or any other institution's, to verify the accuracy of all the documents included in the applications for subsidies", said Petru Maleru. "In order to prevent the use of false documents, the new Regulation on subsidization for this year has a provision stipulating that each beneficiaries signs a declaration on their own responsibility that all the presented papers are true", added the head of the Agency for Payments and Intervention in Agriculture. Serafim Urecheanu, president of the Court of Accounts, saluted the creation of the Agency. Prior to it, both farmers and civil society complained of corruption cases in the process of subsidization, as confirmed by Minister of Agriculture Vasile Bumacov. Urecheanu said that the Agency's employees should permanently improve their expertise and shouldn't react improperly to criticism, which is done for their and the institution's benefit. The Agency for Payments and Intervention in Agriculture was created last year.