Govt defends itself against criticism over humanitarian aid distribution

The reason why the Government offered food wheat from the humanitarian aid to the largest bakeries in Chisinau and Balti was to prevent a bread price hike. The justification was made before the Parliament on Thursday by Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Food Industry Ion Perju in reply to an interpellation by MP Vlad Filat, Info-Prim Neo reports. Filat wanted to hear explanations about the allegedly illicit distribution of 11 tonnes of wheat from humanitarian aid to certain profit-making companies. He also accused the Government of fraudulently managing the humanitarian aid donated to Moldova by Russia and Romania in response to last summer's drought. Perju argued the decision to support the two bakeries was reasonable because they cover a great part of the demand for bread, and at the same time, influence the selling price of bread. In addition, said Perju, 77 other smaller bakeries received 11,600 tonnes of food wheat from the state reserves in technical credit. When asked to justify the classified character of the Government decisions under which the distribution of the humanitarian aid was performed, the deputy minister cited the law on state material reserves which stipulate that such decisions may be restricted to authorized persons only. Vlad Filat pointed to the large difference between the amount of wheat donated to the largest bakeries in the country and the wheat offered in technical credit to the smaller ones. In this connection, the parliamentarian petitioned the General Prosecutor's office and the Competition Protection Agency demanding them to verify the legality of the Government's actions. Vlad Filat also solicited the setting up of a special commission to supervise the distribution of the humanitarian aid donated to Moldova in reaction to the drought. The proposal was however killed by the parliamentary majority.