Ștefan Burlaca, the lawyer for the mayor of Sângera town of Chisinau municipality, said the ascertaining document of the National Integrity Authority (NIA), according to which the mayor is suspected of a conflict of interest, is illegal, to say the least, and lacks any justification. In a news conference at IPN, the lawyer said the lease contract by which mayor Valeriu Popa transferred free his unit of transport to the Sângera mayor’s office for use was signed in conditions of maximum transparency.
“Even if Mister Popa took up his duties in 2019, this contract was signed in 2020. The explanation for this fact is very simple as Mister Popa waited for the annual budget of the town to be approved, the local council to decide to allocate the financial resources needed for the use of units of transport by the local public administration of Sângera town and only after this, in conditions of maximum transparency, he signed the lease,” explained the lawyer.
According to Ștefan Burlaca, the Sângera mayor’s office didn’t pay anything for using the car that belongs to Valeriu Popa so far. The only costs incurred by the mayor’s office in relation to the vehicle are those for fuel, as it is normal and as it happened also in relation to other units of transport used now by the mayor’s office.
In June 2020, the NIA warned that mayor Valeriu Popa experienced a conflict of interest, but didn’t solve the given conflict and benefitted from it. “Even if the NIA had half a year at its disposal, the ascertaining act was issued on January 28, 2021. This says that Valeriu Popa was in a conflict of interest after he signed the lease and that’s all. The document does not specify the benefits, personal interests that Valeriu Popa obtained or could obtain through that contract. It didn’t specify the risks to the activity of Valeriu Popa as a mayor and if the signing of this contract could influence the taking of decisions favorable to the mayor’s office and, in general to Sângera town. Regrettably, all the arguments formulated by Valeriu Popa in his defense were neglected by the NIA,” stated Ștefan Burlaca.
For his part, Valeriu Popa said he challenged the NIA’s ascertaining document. His activity is transparent and he used the own car for public interests, not for the won benefit. The mayor’s office annually saved 100,000 lei as it didn’t need to rent another vehicle. The mayor’s office has a car, but this is used by the deputy mayor and the social assistants. To solve locals’ problems, they need at least two more cars. The Sângera mayor’s office manages three localities - Sângera, Dobrogea and Revaca, whose total population is of over 14,000.
On February 12, the National Integrity Authority announced that it issued an ascertaining document concerning the mayor of Sângera town over the violation of the legal regime of conflicts of interest. In January 2020, the mayor signed with himself, as a private individual, a contract for the rental of the own car for officials purposes even if the mayor’s office already had a car used for such purposes.
