In Moldova they continue to shamelessly steal the state property, with the most serious cases of appropriation being witnessed in the ecological and transport sectors, chairman of the Audit Office Serafim Ureachean said in the program “Public eye” on Noroc TV channel, IPN reports.

According to Urechean, the number of violations identified in the ecological sector is worrisome. “Wooded areas were illegally privatized or leased out. Quarries were also illegally taken for own use. They made some people rich overnight. It’s not excluded that some of these violations were committed under the protection of politicians,” he stated.

Referring to the transport sector, Urechean said that over 400 million lei of the damage of 8 billion lei caused to the state by the violations discovered by the Audit Office last yea represent damage caused by the Ministry of Transport and Road Management. “Among the identified violations were the non-indication of property in accounting documents, illegal tender contests, incorrectly written contracts, inflating of figures for paving the way for subsequent embezzlement,” he stated.

According to the chairman of the Audit Office, a frequent violation that affects almost all the state institutions is the misuse or overdue use of foreign loans. “The money is often not disbursed on time. We are now investigating a case at the Chisinau City Hall, concerning the non-use of a loan of €10 million. The municipality must pay l interest of 10 million lei annually, but the loan money is not put to good use,” said Urechean.

He also said that while managing the Audit Office, no political influence to make him take or annul particular decisions was exerted on him.