Audit reports: management of administration of Chisinau municipality's patrimony in 2018-2020 hit by irregularities

Chisinau, 20 September /MOLDPRES/ - The audit on the financial reports of the Chisinau municipality for 2020 and on the budgetary process and management of the capital’s public patrimony in 2018-2020 shows that the management was hit by irregularities and deficiencies. The conclusions are contained in those two audit reports carried out by the Court of Accounts and presented at a meeting of the parliament’s commission on control of public money today.    

According to the audit reports, the management of the administration of the budgetary means and the patrimony of the Chisinau city does not meet the rigours of the legal framework and appears through an inadequate management and record of the revenues, expenses and public patrimony.   

Inter alia, the audit shows that the Chisinau city’s authorities continue the issuance of authorizations for constructions with infringements of the normative framework and the evacuation or demolition of the unauthorized constructions is carried out with irregularities. This creates premises for the appealing in court by the owners of the assets evacuated or demolished and triggers irrecoverable expenses from the municipal budget, which amounted to about 6.36 million lei (318,000 euros) during 2018-2020 or accounted for 65.75 per cent of the expenses borne from the municipal budget. Also, the processes of sale and purchasing and privatization of plots of lands are affected by irregularities.         

The audit mission also showed that the municipal authorities do not have exhaustive and truthful information as regards the indexes which stay at the basis of the calculation of the revenues from local taxes established on the territory of the Chisinau municipality, which causes their inadequate planning. In 2020, the revenues liable to collection was underestimated by over 11 million lei from three local taxes alone       

„The ignoring of the findings and recommendations of the Court of Accounts, reflected in the previous audit reports, by decision-makers from the Chisinau Municipal Council (CMC) and Chisinau City Hall, concerning the management of the municipal patrimony, issuance of permissive acts, etc. leads to the loss of the public property and non-collection of revenues to the municipal budget, which amounted to at least 5.3 million euros or 107.8 million lei,’’ the audit report reads.      

The audit conclusions and recommendations were submitted to the parliament, president of Moldova, government, CMC and the general mayor of Chisinau city, Prosecutor General’s Office.