Two heads of Material Reserves Agency detained by CNA

Chisinau, April 3 /MOLDPRES/ - Two heads of the Material Reserves Agency (ARM) have been detained by the National Anti-Corruption Centre (CNA) on rigging public procurement, which resulted in a particularly high damage to the state budget.

According to the CNA, today the lawmen carried out criminal prosecution actions at the ARM in a file of abuse of office concerning alleged illegalities committed in the organization of public procurement procedures, carried out in 2022-2024.

The case was initiated by the PA in September 2023.

According to the materials, ARM decision-makers are suspected of favouring some economic agents in order to win public tenders for the purchase of fuel oil, wheat, sugar, technical machinery and vehicles. 

Thus, as a result of the investigations, deviations were found in the organisation of the procedure for the purchase of fuel oil reserves, carried out during 2022, with the use of the negotiation method without prior publication of a tender notice, which resulted in the acceptance of a more expensive offer of 58.4 million lei for the contracting of 14.5 thousand tons of fuel oil, the requested quantity of 16.5 thousand tons of fuel oil being reduced by 2 thousand tons, which resulted in additional expenditure from the state budget in the amount mentioned above. Also, for the purchase of wheat reserves in 2022, a more expensive offer of 11.3 million lei was accepted for the purchase of 33.2 thousand tons of food wheat, as the difference between the price announced in the tender documents and the accepted offer. 

In 2023, the procedure for the purchase of 400 tons of sugar of 6,692,592.59 lei was organized, using the method of negotiation without prior publication of a tender notice and restricting the participation of other bidders, with the information of only one economic agent. Also during this period, the procurement procedure for 16 thousand tons of fuel oil was organised, favouring only one economic agent, and the acceptance documents indicated a quantity lower than that actually delivered.

The CNA is currently taking action to establish and document all the persons involved in the illegal actions by setting the total damage caused to the state budget and their criminal liability.