Prison heads and functionaries of the Department of Penitentiary Institutions are taking part in a training seminar on European jail management and rules. The seminar is organized by the Council of Europe in Cooperation with the Department of Penitentiary Institutions. The Institute for Penal Reform says that most of the penitentiary institutions in Moldova witness serious problems as regards the observance of the norm of dwelling space, water supply, sanitary hygiene, electric power and heating in the cold season of the year. The past several years saw a critical situation as concerns the provision of food to the prisoners, while the medical assistance offered was substandard. At the same time, the legislation is close to the European principles and the improvements in the area are evident in the last few years, says Victor Zaharia, department head at the Institute for Penal Reform. Many things in the penitentiary system must be changes and they do not depend on the financial resources allotted, such as the relation between the personnel and the detainees, Zaharia stressed. A number of 908 prisoners serve their sentences in the Cricova-based penitentiary No.4. The prison’s head Vitalie Nicoara says that there are rooms that accommodate by 6-8 persons as well as by 20-30 persons. A detainee occupies two square metres on average, compared to the four square metres required. A prisoner in the Rusca-based penitentiary No.7 occupies 3.05 square metres, says the institution’s head Gheorghe Chirila. “We hope that with the implementation of the probation system that includes alternative measures to punishment, the number of convicts will decrease,” Chirila said. According to him, the penitentiary provides good conditions for 200 persons, but there are held 270 prisoners. Vladimir Trofim, head of the Department of Penitentiary Institutions, says that it is difficult to implement European standards when the resources allotted are insufficient. According to Trofim, the budgetary allocations cover only half of the necessities that amount to 164 million lei in 2007. A sum of 54.18 lei is needed to maintain a prisoner daily. The state allocates 5.96 lei for the food provided to a detainee each day. Trofim says that to ensure adequate nourishment for the detainees, they use funds from the entrepreneurial activity of the companies that work in the penitentiary system, from working the land as well as other extra-budgetary resources. Vladimir Trofim stated that under the penitentiary system reform that was recently drafted, by 2020 the prisoners will be provided with the four square metres required by the law and will be divided into rooms according to the detention regime. According to Trofim, the number of detainees in Moldova fell from 10,400 to about 8,000 during the past two years. About 37% of the prisoners are working. There are 17 penitentiaries in Moldova at present.