Known in Romania as “Trovants” the stones of Costesti Romania are a type of sandstone concretion that secrete cement and can at times appear to grow as if alive Consisting of a stone core with an outer shell of sand after a heavy rain small forms are said to appear on the rocks leading them to be dubbed the “growing stones” by locals The “Muzeul Trovantilor” or “Trovants Museum Natural Reserve “ was created in 2004 to protect the unusual geological creations one of Turkmenistan’s most impressive natural attractions Known as the "Valley of the Moon," this Jordanian wadi is one of the most amazing desertscapes on Earth These hellish-looking cliffs in the Canadian Arctic have been burning for centuries In Northeastern Iceland lies something of an oxymoron: a steaming desert menacing sandstone peak towering above a landscape that's equal parts Mordor and the Moon A little-visited waterfall in an otherworldly landscape The largest geyser field in the southern hemisphere is a spectacular sight Sign up for our daily Newsletter and stay up to date with all the latest news You are receiving this pop-up because this is the first time you are visiting our site You are using software which is blocking our advertisements (adblocker) we are relying on revenues from our banners So please disable your adblocker and reload the page to continue using this site.Thanks "Trial and error" is how Ion Ionas describes his company's exports to the EU since 2014 Ionex was among the first in Moldova to ship stone fruit and grapes westward we shipped ten truckloads but paid dearly for that learning experience 95% of our volumes go to the European Union," Ion Ion Ionas and his father Gheorghe on an international fruit exhibition my father built cold rooms for the fruit he bought and traded We were also among the first to install a sorting line and export to Germany and the United Kingdom our first orchard of some 20 hectares was a reality and apricots." Ionex's plots are in Ungheni some 15 kilometers from Moldova's capital city of Chisinau grapes in anotherThe company has 90+ hectares in Ungheni I'm still looking for suitable varieties other than Regina and Kordia The grape vines will also be removed within a few years the emphasis will be almost entirely on plums supplemented by apricots and possibly some cherries And we'll establish vineyards - all of the Moldova variety and entirely on pergolas - within a few years in Costesti The climate in the slightly more southern Costesti is more suited to grape cultivation Harvesting usually begins around September 20 two to three weeks earlier than in Ungheni That reduces the risk of autumn showers and possibly a night of frost during picking three-quarters of the villagers have a hectare or two of grapes We also only ship our own fruit to the German retail sector." Flow pack lineExporting to countries like Germany and the UK has several obvious requirements Ionex supplies boxes of its own brand and has a flowpack line not only to talk to customers but also to make contacts with suppliers we hope to ship 20 truckloads of grapes in punnets to a German retailer," Ion explains Controlling the entire chainIn addition to the near-complete transition to plum cultivation in Ungheni and planting 30 hectares of grapes in Costesti It must have more refrigeration space and a line that sorts for internal quality as well as size "The current line is versatile and flexible "I can now fill a truck daily with punnets or two with boxes The eventual goal is to not source any fruit from others and to have the entire chain in-house from growing to storage and sorting to packaging We outsource transportation to local logistics partners with whom we've worked for years we even have some control over that," says Ionas Plums for vodkaTheir packaging plant has almost year-round work for its permanent employees it is just a short wait until the cherry season starts in late May they pack apricots and then plums until December "The plums last in cold storage until February but after that we have no market for almost two months the first Centenar plums were picked as early as July 15 even the Class III product has a destination: vodka distilleries." IncentivesIon admits that finding qualified staff is challenging Our sector doesn't have great profit margins But because we still want to offer our workers a nice income we implemented an incentives system this year The more effective workers get paid more; a win-win "The harvesters earn more and we're sure all the fruit is picked on time the last volumes lose quality and have to go to processing they've already promised we can count on them next season too but we arrange transportation," he concludes and SMETA certified and will be at the upcoming Fruit Attraction in Madrid The company is at the joint Moldova Fruct sector organization's stand For more information:Ion Ionas (Director)Ionex Trans LtdCostesti (Ialoveni) – MoldovaMob: +373 699 611 88[email protected] https://ionex.md/en/ FreshPublishers © 2005-2025 FreshPlaza.com Europe Soraya EbrahimiNovember 03 We’re seeing massive interference by Russia in our electoral process as Moldovans vote in the presidential runoff today—an effort with high potential to distort the outcome which I'll be updating in real time ⬇️ To say the 2020 Arsenal Hard Enduro was a tough weekend would be an understatement heavy rains on the Saturday made the track extremely challenging in the hills around Costesti David Cyprian proved master of the conditions and despite stiff competition from Alfredo Gomez who made the trip across from Spain Czech rider Cyprian took the prologue win by 17 seconds from Alfredo with Norbert Jozsa in close contention Saturday saw Cyprian lead out but Alfredo and Norbert caught him quickly and the trio rode together into the difficult uphill sections which Cyprian describes as “really tough” “We pushed a lot because of the mud and slippy conditions.” Explains David “On one uphill we (with Gomez) dropped Norbi and continued to fight I found a better line on one of the uphills made a small time gap and stayed on gas until the finish.” The advantage gained on Saturday proved decisive as Cyprian and Gomez continued to fight on day three Gomez won on the time sheets but Cyprian – holding on despite twisting his knee badly – held his advantage for victory “On day three Alfredo was quick to pass me,” says Cyprian “but we fought and switched positions between each other all day until around 10 km before the finish where I rotated my knee and it became very painful Afterwards I just cruised to the finish and was lucky enough to have enough time from previous day and win the competition Full results from Arsenal Hard Enduro 2020 Create a personal Enduro21 account to access our new forum receive exclusive competitions and money saving offers Enduro21 is all about motorcycle enduro and off-road riding. 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HomeDestinationsInterestsTop Places to Travel by MonthSearchMenuBest time to travel to Romania These stones or rather "creatures" have been baffling the scientists for years they are said to influence people's thoughts and seek revenge when treated badly but that's only a small part of the huge mystery as many have been noticed to change their position they may influence your thoughts provided that you are standing somewhere nearby therefore it's recommended to be friendly with them You must be extremely sceptical about the whole thing already would scientists waste their time on such a nuisance commonly known as "trovants" and concretions have been a subject of scientific investigation for quite a long time and why did they appear in Romania—this is not clear but the formations are supposed to be 6.5 million years old Due to a large number of inexplicable characteristics they are also supposed to have some kind of alien origin while the texture inside is similar to sand the cross section has some similarities with a tree trunk mainly because of the observable age rings This makes them half-rocks and half-plants Mysterious concretions are found in many regions of Romania but Valcea County is known for the greatest accumulation and even touch them is either along a river in Gresarea Brook near Oteşani village In Costeşti you will also find “Trovants Museum” People of Transilvania have their own tradition connected with trovants,—they put the stones beside the graves of their loved ones to ensure peaceful afterlife it's a common practice in Romania to use trovants to make souvenirs the best time to meet the extraordinary rocks is after rains Summer is considered the most rainy season in Romania Costeşti OteşaniCosteştiOteşaniLast updated: May 18, 2023Authors: People interested Connecting decision makers to a dynamic network of information Bloomberg quickly and accurately delivers business and financial information A voter casts their ballot during Moldova's election 2024 at 1:12 PM ESTBookmarkSaveMoldova’s prime minister announced changes to his cabinet line-up after the nation’s pro-Western president pledged a reshuffle following a referendum on European Union membership The vote on joining the EU last month was supported by a razor-thin margin as pro-Russian forces sought to exploit discontent with the economy and a lack of tangible results in reforming the justice system and fighting corruption That prompted President Maia Sandu to say during presidential elections that she’d seek changes in government to speed up reforms 11 April) UN Under-Secretary-General and UN Women Executive Director Sima Bahous visited the Republic of Moldova from 8 to 10 April to reaffirm UN Women’s commitment as a key partner to advance gender equality and women’s leadership in the country Bahous emphasized UN Women’s determination to support Moldova’s efforts as a host country to the thousands of refugees fleeing the war in neighbouring Ukraine UN Women Executive Director met with the UN Resident Coordinator Simon Springett and the UNHCR Representative Francesca Bonneli to discuss the role and contribution of UN Women to the coordinated refugee response as well as the UN support to the implementation of the development agenda Bahous visited two temporary refugee placement centres children and older persons who have fled the war in Ukraine are deeply moving One thing they all say is that they hope to go back to their homes soon But some of them have no homes anymore to go back to I commend the Moldovan society for opening their homes and hearts to the people of Ukraine Refugees receive essential support here from the government The Executive Director also visited the Palanca – Mayaki-Udobnoe Border crossing in southeastern Moldova where thousands of refugees arrive every day to escape the war in Ukraine volunteers and the refugees crossing the border “What I have seen here is a very dignified and disciplined reception of mostly women and children UN Women is supporting the efforts here and collaborating with the police and government of Moldova we ensure that the refugees are protected and well taken care of and that women are engaged as leaders in the response,” said the Executive Director In cooperation with local authorities and civil society organisations UN Women supported 2000 refugee women and their children in temporary placement centres in Moldova by providing most essential needs UN Women provided wheelchairs and walkers to assist elderly people and women with small babies at the border crossings UN Women is financially supporting civil society organisations to raise awareness about sexual and gender-based violence and respond to the most urgent needs of women and children Sima Bahous also met with high-level government officials the Deputy Prime Minister on Reintegration; Ana Revenco the Minister of Internal Affairs; Dumitru Udrea the General Secretary of the Government and Sergiu Odainic the General Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration They discussed UN Women’s development work in the country as well as its support during the refugee crisis “It is important to continue our strong partnership with the Government of the Republic of Moldova to advance gender equality it will be important to prioritize the resilience of both the host and the refugee community women I am impressed with the strong focus on gender equality in country and the advancements made on women´s leadership at the highest level of government,” stressed Bahous “We are glad to acknowledge the good cooperation between the United Nations and intergovernmental institutions in particular the positive collaboration with UN Women in the promotion of the Women as women play a crucial role in peacebuilding and negotiation processes We would also like to express our appreciation for UN Women’s contribution to the humanitarian response the direct support offered to women and girl refugees from Ukraine,” said Oleg Serebrian the Deputy Prime Minister on Reintegration but we equally have our development and reform agenda it is now more important than ever for UN Women to build on the current programmes namely in providing capacity and economic opportunities for women and youth as well as supporting development of communities considering that now there are a lot of families from rural communities who are hosting refugees.” said Ana Revenco expressed his appreciation for the continuous support offered by UN Women over the years in the implementation of gender policies and said “I am confident that the partnership between the Government of the Republic of Moldova and UN Women will help our country in promoting gender equality at all levels in particular with mainstreaming gender equality perspective in all policies so that we can advance with the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development to benefit every citizen and leave no one behind.” acknowledged the important cooperation with UN Women namely the recent launch of the gender audit at the Ministry and said that “its findings will contribute to strengthening the institutional capacities to mainstream gender equality in the foreign policy documents Sima Bahous also met with Members of Parliament (MPs) and congratulated their remarkable achievements on gender equality legislation in 2021 including the ratification of the Istanbul Convention and provision of alternative childcare services “These milestone achievements would not have been possible had Moldova not reached the highest ever number of women in its Parliament,” said Bahous Copyright © UN Women This issue is preventing our website from loading properly. 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LOGIN Downloadable PDFs are a benefit of an FP subscription This article is an Insider exclusive Contact us at [email protected] to learn about upgrade options unlocking the ability to gift this article CHISINAU, Moldova—In the days after Russia invaded Ukraine in late February, car after car pulled into the driveway of the La Costesti resort complex carrying mothers who had crossed into Moldova with children in their arms and tears in their eyes For the small country on Ukraine’s southwestern border such support is a huge task—one that ordinary citizens have accepted without skipping a beat who runs the tourist resort with her family quickly got to work turning the lakeside holiday resort located just outside the capital of Chisinau into a temporary refuge for people fleeing the war Neighbors contributed everything from bread to a freshly slaughtered pig while Bivol’s family bought tickets to send some refugees to stay with friends in other parts of Europe We are so bonded to them,” Bivol said in an interview in March People stand on the banks of a lake outside La Costesti a tourist resort accommodating refugees from Ukraine as laundry dries in the distance in Costesti on March 29.Betsy Joles photos for Foreign Policy Moldova has long sought to join the European Union and the bloc has given the country fresh attention amid the conflict in Ukraine Some countries have pledged money to assist with Moldova’s humanitarian response and the EU has offered border support and more financial aid But grappling with the effects of years of economic troubles and uncertainty about its future in the region the Moldovan government is also looking to Europe for help with its domestic problems Moldova joined Georgia and Ukraine in submitting a bid to join the EU the membership bid signals Moldova’s alignment with European values it is equally a request for financial support to aid in the country’s development “The issues of the Moldovan Republic are first of all economic,” said Ion Jigau “Our citizens see the EU as something that will help them overcome these [problems].” Moldova has faced the economic effects of the pandemic followed by the gas crisis that caused energy prices to skyrocket Moldova’s pro-EU government has held a majority in parliament since last July and it has made clear that it must seek help from the bloc while it can Moldovan President Maia Sandu has appealed for assistance to defray the costs of humanitarian relief further signaling her desire for European integration But Moldova’s shift toward the EU is not linear and many Moldovans have shaky faith in the pro-European administrations that also fell prey to corruption even as the EU increased support for Moldova to improve its governance the Moldovan government’s closeness to the EU has seesawed After a 2014 agreement with the EU put Moldova on a preliminary track to integration Since a pro-European government regained control it has doubled down on promises to root out corruption and bring Moldova back into the EU’s fold But as the country works to get its affairs in order Concerns about violence spreading into Moldova have grown more acute in recent days after a series of explosions in Transnistria a Moscow-backed separatist region in the country’s east Although the source of the attacks is disputed they have elevated fears among some Moldovans that they could become the next victims of conflict the communal strength that has emerged in Moldova since the war in Ukraine began reflects a feeling of solidarity with its neighbors: Moldovans have jumped at the chance to help those fleeing the war next door sits on a bed with her 18-month-old daughter lingers in the doorway at a relative’s house in Sireti a village of around 6,000 people near Chisinau residents are hosting dozens of Ukrainian refugees in their own homes—a trend seen across Moldova said people in his community have helped the displaced out of a sense of obligation “Everybody is thinking in their heads that we could have the same danger as Ukraine but tomorrow we could also become refugees,” Iorga said almost everyone in the village knows someone who is helping out Cristina Gherman has been hosting Valentina Papusa and her two small children Vera Vranceanu has taken in her Ukrainian relative Natalia Kocelaevscaia along with her daughter In an activities hall in the middle of Sireti tables are stacked high with donated clothes and baby products; most people who have arrived from Ukraine are women with children The owner of a nearby event hall has opened her kitchen to prepare for refugee shelters around Chisinau dozens of volunteers unpack truckloads of boxes filled with supplies Women sit on beds inside a shelter for Ukrainian refugees set up inside an abandoned movie theater in Chisinau Gherman said people in the village were crowdfunding to provide refugees with necessities such as clothes and hygiene products adding that they often used such funds to supplement what the local government contributes usually the government’s support for localities is very low,” she said “Our community is actually very strong because we [have] had lots of moments where we had to help someone.” Many refugees staying around Chisinau are from Odesa They say they plan to remain in Moldova until they can return to their city Tatiana Botia and four of her family members have shared a flat in Chisinau with a family of three from Odesa we are very lucky,” Botia said about meeting the family who welcomed them into their home she said she expected to return home within a week The family is still waiting on a sign that they can return Veronica Bivol and her aunt Zinaida Bivol stand outside the office of the La Costesti tourist resort in the town of Costesti shares dinner with displaced men from Ukraine who are staying at the resort in Costesti on March 29 as well as 8 million euros ($8.5 million) in humanitarian aid to help civilians affected by the war it pledged to step up defense support as well The EU has begun working with Moldova’s border authorities and EU member states have started receiving refugees relocated by the U.N How Moldova’s current government continues to respond to arrivals from Ukraine will be an important factor in its future with the EU which has agreed to begin reviewing its membership bid Support for refugees could be a feather in Moldova’s cap in its push for European integration a sociologist and member of Moldova for Peace a volunteer group helping to coordinate humanitarian efforts “There is an intrinsic kind of intention to improve the image of the country.” People arrive from Ukraine at a reception area near the border in Palanca on March 24 Moldovan leaders are vocal about their support for refugees in part because it could push the country’s economic development forward Ordinary Moldovans will be watching closely to see whether European assistance will trickle down to them Sprinceana hopes that EU aid doesn’t lead to complacency among political leaders who have watched their citizens step up to help with no promise of support in return “You cannot rely on the hospitality of people all the time,” he said Betsy Joles is a journalist based in Pakistan. 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EUROPA PENTRU TINE!Află despre beneficiile și oportunitățile oferite Republicii Moldova de Uniunea Europeană Prime Minister Ion Chicu went to Costesti-Stanca Hydropower Node to consider the flood hazards caused by the recent heavy rainfall in Moldova The leadership of the Ministry of Agriculture the Waters of Moldova Agency and the State Hydrometeorological Service informed about the evolution of the water level in the Prut River forecasts for the next period and flood dangers IGSU head informed that the situation had been examined and localities that could be flooded and preventive measures had been identified Local Public Authorities were trained and action plans were worked out necessary materials and intervention teams were prepared The premier asked to be assessed the previous experience and considered the consequences of floods in 2008 and 2012 which can help planning and implementing effective preventive measures The leaders of the Local Public Authorities informed about the preparatory actions undertaken The Moldovan authorities are constantly communicating with colleagues from Romania and Ukraine exchanging information that allows maintaining a high level of preparedness to manage the risk of flooding in a most efficient manner Chicu noted that the government has resources in the reserve fund and is ready to intervene if necessary He asked all public authorities responsible to manage the situation in which the water level will rise and exit the Prut river bed "We need to have the list of houses that are in the risk area to inform the inhabitants and prepare their safe evacuation Please make sure we have everything ready and we will act preventively " Note: The Costești-Stînca Hydropower Plant was built in 1973- 1978 The accumulation lake stretches over a length of 70 km with an accumulation capacity of 1 billion 285 million cubic meters of water The installed capacity of the hydropower plant is 32 MW of which 16 MW is the power of the generator located in Moldova 27 employees work at the Costești Hydropower Plant The Hydropower Node provides 5-6% of the energy produced annually by local producers and about 1-1.5% of the energy consumed by the right bank of the Dniester River the revenues of the Costești-Stânca Hydropower Node exceeded 51 million lei All materials featured on this site are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0) Technical-technological administration: Information Technology and Cyber Security Service. Romania is one of the countries with exceptional natural beauty and cultural heritage which makes it a preferred tourist destination in Europe 25 of the country’s architectural gems have been listed by UNESCO in the World Cultural Heritage because of their natural and scenic appeal The World Heritage Sites offer insight into the history The southern Romania has spectacular monasteries and beautiful villages at the foot of Carpathian Mountains The sites are spread across the country offering perfect destinations for people visiting any part of the country Some of these UNESCO World Heritage Sites include; The Churches of Moldavia were built between the 15th century and late 16th century The churches have external walls covered in mural painting which is a masterpiece inspired by the Byzantine art The paintings are well preserved and form a systematic covering on the faces of the wall and represent complete religious themes The eight Churches of Moldavia are located in the Suceava County and were listed UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1993 These churches include; Beheading of St John the Baptist Church ( Arbore) The Dacian Fortresses were built in the 1st century BC as protection against the Roman conquest The fortresses show a unique infusion of both religious and military architectural designs and classical concept influenced by the European Iron Age They were built as a protective ring for the Dacian Kingdom and still stand in natural surroundings of the Oristie Mountains covering an area of 95,000 acres The area was listed as UNESCO Biosphere Reservation and a World Heritage Site in 1999 The Dacian Fortresses of the Orastie Mountains is opened for the public daily between March 1 and November 30 every year Danube Delta is the best preserved and the second largest river delta in Europe. The Delta lies in Romania (3,446 km2) while a smaller portion (1,015 km2) is in Ukraine It branches into three main distributaries; Chilia Danube Delta flows for approximately 1,780 miles from Black Forest in Germany to the Black Sea through Romania The Delta is a perfect breeding ground for over 300 species of birds including white tailed eagles and 45 freshwater fish species The delta also has the third largest biodiversity in the world after Greater Barrier Reef and Galapagos Archipelago The Danube Delta is perfect for bird watching and fishing as well as a research site for biologists Romania has a tentative list of sites that may be considered for nominations into the UNESCO World Heritage Sites The country has recorded 13 sites on its tentative lists including Byzantine and Pos-Byzantine Churches The UNESCO World Heritage Sites and the tentative sites are under the management of the Department of Tourism and the government of Romania photos and original descriptions © 2025 worldatlas.com Thank you!We have emailed you a PDF version of the article you requested You can also addnewsletters@iflscience.comto your safe senders list to ensure you never miss a message from us IFLScience HomeThe "Living Rocks" Of Romania Appear To Grow and Spawn OthersComplete the form below to listen to the audio version of this article IFLScience needs the contact information you provide to us to contact you about our products and services You may unsubscribe from these communications at any time For information on how to unsubscribe, as well as our privacy practices and commitment to protecting your privacy, check out ourPrivacy Policy IFLScience HomeJoin for Exclusive FacebookemailTom is a writer in London with a Master's degree in Journalism whose editorial work covers anything from health and the environment to technology and archaeology. FacebookemailDOWNLOAD PDF VERSION A "Living rock" looks over the landscape in Buzau County The tiny Romanian town of Costești is home to a bunch of rocks like none other Not content with the typical sedentary life of rocks these bulging boulders slowly ooze their innards and can even appear to grow and move as if they were alive it’s no surprise the geological oddballs are also known as “living rocks” Little-to-no scientific studies have investigated trovants, but the strange stones have attracted the attention of plenty of geologists and tourists over the years They can be found in numerous odd locations dotted in the area north of Romania's capital Bucharest.  There’s some debate around this, but it’s thought that trovants are sandstone concretions with tough outer layers of sand, a bit like an M&M. These concretions are harder than the rocks around them so when the surrounding softer bedrock is eroded away they can emerge out of the Earth.  rainwater reacts with the mineral content of the concretions causing its innards to leech out and resulting in the appearance of the rock expanding which almost look as if the rock is spawning an offspring It’s estimated that the rocks “grow” less than 5 centimeters (2 inches) in 1,200 years Don’t expect to catch this phenomenon in a timelapse video.  “Trovants are basically ovoid or spherical in shape, although they may occur in a large variety of shapes,” Florin Stoican, co-manager of the Buila-Vanturarita National Park, told Radio Romania International in 2010 Seven million years ago there was a delta where the present-day stone quarry is amassed and transported from across the continent by a prehistoric river various mineral substances dissolved into solutions that circulated over this basin of gravel and sand," he added "These minerals acted as cement and glued together various sedimentary particles there are trovants with diverse compositions they are made from gritstone and conglomerates,” continued Stoican plantsWhat Is A Dinosaur Tree? The Living Fossil Dinosaurs Once Munched On That's Still Around Today11 hours agolink to article animalsAncient Chinese Poetry Reveals The 1,400-Year Decline Of World’s Only Freshwater Porpoise13 hours ago86link to article T. Rex Leather, Glow-In-The-Dark Gas Clouds, And Musical Sea Lionslink to article The Five Most Common Headacheslink to article © 2025 IFLScience. All Rights Reserved. RSS The wind farm is estimated to have an operational life of up to 35 years 460.8MW The 460.8MW Vifor wind farm project is located in Buzau County in south-east Romania It is poised to become Romania’s second-largest wind farm The project is owned by First Look Solutions The clean energy generated from the project will be sufficient to power upwards of 270,000 homes simultaneously offsetting around 540,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions each year The wind farm is estimated to have an operational life of up to 35 years and will significantly contribute to Romania’s 2030 EU renewable energy targets is situated within the administrative boundaries of Costeşti is approximately 85km north-east of the Bucharest outskirts The north-western extremity of the wind farm lies roughly 6km from the Buzau city outskirts The total area covered by the wind farm spans 2,777ha out of which 147.8ha will be impacted by construction with permanent facilities occupying an additional 44.5ha The Vifor wind farm will incorporate a total of 72 EnVentus V162 wind turbine generators (WTGs) The turbines will feature a three-bladed rotor with a diameter of 162m The turbines will be perched atop 166m-tall hubs All WTGs across the project area are intended to be interconnected via underground cable lines to a single transformer station A 1.4km overhead transmission line with a 400kV capacity will carry the electricity from the transformer to the national grid The wind farm will utilise a network of existing agricultural roads and newly constructed access roads Underground cable lines will be installed along these roads The implementation of the project is structured into two distinct phases The 192MW phase one will see the installation of 30 WTGs and is set for commissioning by the end of 2025 The subsequent phase will include the installation of an additional 42 wind turbines The wind farm’s development is segmented into five subprojects will consist of seven wind turbines with a total capacity of 44.8MW The Gheraseni wind farm in the Gheraseni commune will also feature seven turbines with a total capacity of 44.8MW The Smeeni commune will host the Smeeni wind farm equipped with 21 turbines and a combined capacity of 134.4MW the Ţinteşti subproject will include seven turbines The project includes the construction of the central power collection substation within the Pogoanele subproject in Luciu commune under the ownership of the Pogoanele Town Local Council The substation will step up the electric power generated by the wind turbines from 33kV to 400kV Electricity generated from all subprojects will be conveyed to the collection substation via 33kV underground cable lines which avoids the need to install intermediate transformer stations thereby minimising the project’s environmental footprint Rezolv Energy and Low Carbon have secured financing facilities amounting to €291m ($313m) to support the construction of the Vifor wind farm’s phase one The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is providing a €32m loan for the first phase of the project a renewable wind energy and turbine manufacturing company will develop the project under a turnkey engineering Vestas will supply the wind turbines and provide operations and maintenance services for the initial 15 years of operation Rezolv will take over the operations after this period while Vestas will continue to provide maintenance services for the wind turbines under a long-term service agreement Give your business an edge with our leading industry insights View all newsletters from across the GlobalData Media network is a young man from Odessa who fled to the Republic of Moldova at the beginning of March 2022 The young musician has had an atypical development and multiple forms of disability and the bombing and stress caused by the war has dramatically undermined his health which left him more isolated: “He misses his room our home and familiar surroundings where he feels safe and this made him much more independent and self-confident.” Yaroslav has speech and certain motor-coordination difficulties that hinder his integration in his new community as well as his hosts from Costesti fell in love with him They appreciate his sharp sense of humour and his concern for others when he posts jokes news and his own views about the situation on social media groups created for refugees He is always careful to inform us of any changes in the programme at our centre and I am sorry he is not able to practice now.” “I am so sorry my son had to drop his studies because of the war [the equipment he has received allows him to download necessary programmes and develop his DJ skills; it will also] help him continue his activities and communicate easier with his friends and classmates I really hope we will come back home one day,” Yaroslav’s father shared When UN Women Executive Director Sima Bahous met Yaroslav during a recent visit to Moldova she asked him about his interests and dreams and he was determined to practice DJing again together with other refugees enjoyed a theatre performance organized by UN Women in partnership with Moldovan Border Police tasting Easter cakes and sweets offered during the Easter holidays for 250 children from Ukraine The Costesti temporary placement centre hosts more than 100 refugee families the majority of whom are comprised of women with small children donated chairs for the refugee children from Costesti so that mothers could eat lunch together with them According to the displacement survey on Ukrainian refugees jointly produced by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and UN Women about 23 per cent of respondents in transit locations reported having a serious health condition (chronic disease wounded) or to be travelling with someone who did Among those met in centres and private accommodation or to be accompanied by at least one person with PPC Renewables is building a 140 MW wind farm and Eurowind Energy is installing the first turbines at the Pecineaga location in Romania 0 PPC Renewables Romania marked the start of construction of its Deleni facility in Vaslui county in the country’s northwest The 140 MW wind power plant will consist of 23 turbines of 6.1 MW each Deleni is the first major project of the kind in the Western Moldavia or Moldova region It will attract other projects to the area according to Minister of Energy Sebastian Burduja “And for the national energy system it means a strategic diversification of wind energy production considering that until now the important parks are concentrated in the Dobrogea area Congratulations to the PPC company for taking on this major and courageous project,” he said Burduja: By actually locating the consumption closer to the place of production for electricity you will be able to offer a more competitive electricity price Municipal budgets will be doubled with the new tax income The turbines will be on the territories of the communes Deleni with a 400/200/100 kV substation in nearby Banca “This green energy means the future of tomorrow’s generations it means energy production at a competitive price so cheaper energy for Romanians and for the private sector It means the chance for this area to have higher taxes and fees to create jobs and have an additional factor for attracting investors By actually locating the consumption closer to the place of production for electricity you will be able to offer a more competitive electricity price,” Burduja pointed out PPC Renewables Romania estimated the annual output at 370 GWh The minister invited the company to participate at the upcoming auction for support under contracts for difference (CfDs) Including Deleni, the firm’s renewable energy capacity reaches 1.5 GW. In August, it bought the 600 MW Fântânele-Cogealac-Gradina onshore wind park PPC Renewables Romania is a subsidiary of Greece’s government controlled Public Power Corp The PPC Renewables branch has 4.7 GW altogether in the two countries In Romania it aims to surpass 2 GW by the end of 2026 Danish developer and operator of wind, photovoltaic and hybrid projects Eurowind Energy said the construction of its Pecineaga wind farm is progressing. It is in Constanța county in Dobrogea or Dobruja province in the country’s east Installation started of the Siemens Gamesa turbines SG 6.6-170 The facility will consist of eight machines totaling 48 MW and generate an estimated 176 GWh per year The company expects the start of operation in the first quarter Eurowind Energy entered the Romanian market in 2011 Among other recent developments in wind energy, Rezolv Energy signed a string of virtual power purchase agreements (VPPAs) for its Vifor wind power project in the country’s east. Nala Renewables secured EUR 214 million to acquire and build a 99.2 MW wind farm Earlier this year, Rezolv Energy also signed the grid connection agreement for a 600 MW wind project in Romania, while wpd advanced a 528 MW wind farm in Suceava county Be the first one to comment on this article 02 May 2025 - The project is located in Constanța county recognized for its superior yields in green energy production 02 May 2025 - The Sunčana (Sunny) Vipava project envisages installing solar power plants with a combined capacity of 20 MW 30 April 2025 - OMV put into operation its 10 MW green hydrogen plant at the Schwechat refinery 30 April 2025 - It is the second time this year that MVM contracted gas-fueled and hydrogen-ready power plants at sites of former fossil fuel facilities © CENTER FOR PROMOTION OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 2008-2020 website developed by ogitive We use some essential cookies to make this website work We’d like to set additional cookies to understand how you use GOV.UK remember your settings and improve government services We also use cookies set by other sites to help us deliver content from their services You have accepted additional cookies. You can change your cookie settings at any time You have rejected additional cookies. You can change your cookie settings at any time Freedom of Information releases and corporate reports British Ambassador Phil Batson delivered a presentation at Dreamups Sustainability Lab in Costesti Dreamups Sustainability Lab in Moldova is an interactive training course on the topic of Eco-innovation and solutions creation for the challenges that communities face The Lab was supported by the European Youth Programme and gathered participants from Moldova At the Lab Ambassador Phil Batson delivered a presentation “What a waste!” (For more information: UK Policy on reducing and managing waste) showing UK solutions towards waste management and how the government is working with civil society and communities in order to reduce waste creation He also shared his personal experience in managing waste and being sustainable and flagged up some informal systems of waste management witnessed during two of his previous postings in India and Tunisia After 10 days of training workshops and meetings, participants built and presented their creative sustainable do-it-yourself solutions The main idea of the whole project was to create simple solutions which can be implemented by everybody around the world Don’t include personal or financial information like your National Insurance number or credit card details Chișinău - The consumption of electric energy on the right bank of Dniester is fully covered for 18 January and the failure contracts do not need to be activated the overall consumption is estimated to be similar to the 17 January one – 15,444,000 kWh More than a half of this consumption is provided from imports of electric energy and the need was fully covered based on the commercial contracts without the activation of emergency contracts The details as to the energy sources used are as follows:     Import of electric energy from Romania – 53.17 per cent; Termoelectrica stock company – 27.77 per cent; Costesti hydro-electric power station state enterprise – 1.06 per cent The peak of the consumption of electric energy was recorded between 17:00 and 20:00 without exceeding the value of the consumption forecast both in order to have lower invoices and to ensure the reliability of the electric energy system The average weighted purchasing price of the electric energy forecast for today is about 123 euros/MWh which is by about 19.47 euros less against the purchasing price included in the regulated tariffs for the supply and carriage of electric energy all sources of generation are working and there are no risks the pressures in all segments of transport managed by the Vestmoldtransgaz Ltd Company are within the limits of the functional parameters the overall consumption of electric energy for 17 January was of 4,323,000 kWh with over 80 per cent of this electricity generated by the Kuchurgan power station scheduled disconnections from power supply have been taking place with duration of five hours Disconnections are also made in the Copanca and Varnita villages controlled by the constitutional authorities and the government has already undertaken a string of measures in order to help the residents hit by the lack of electricity only one mayor was caught in the act and then given suspended sentence He was charged of having frauded a public tender some tenders seem more than doubtful and the witnesses of some businessmen and mayors reveal a world where the shadow games and the bribes dictate the rules of the game Continuation company Litarcom SRL can be called one of the champions of tenders in the last four years Many experts in the field claimed that this SRL did not have either necessary equipment or specialized staff Many of the tenders won by Litarcom are (were) for resources from projects financially supported by the National Ecological Fund (NEF) of the Ministry of Environment Founder of the company Litarcom SRL is Liviu Jitari The SRL was founded by him in August 2002 together with another young man Grigore Marandici Jitari was 22 when he has been the only founder since May 2015 after he had bought the shares of Marandici The biggest agreement of this company worth 34 9 million lei was won by the Mayoralty of village Costesti for “providing works of sewerage system and wastewater treatment" an additional agreement of increase was signed between the Mayoralty and the company The price of the works increased by 2 million and the total sum of the project reached 37 million lei represented by the former mayor Vasile Borta signed the additional agreement though as in the case of the tender from Pelivan it was not clear if additional money for works was necessary as works have just started works stopped both in Costesti and Pelivan A former employee of the Mayoralty in Costesti said that the local authorities won this tender after the former leadership of the Ministry of Environment represented by Gheorghe Salaru assured us that the tender will be won by Litarcom SRL He said to the former mayor Vasile Borta that „they can be the best initiators of projects but if this company (Litarcom) does not win; the project will not be approved” Such a scheme used at approving projects from the National Ecological Fund was reported by the mayor who accepted to talk about frauding a tender and this case was reported in the first part of this investigation that the documents for the tender organization in 2013 were examined by law bodies works were supposed to continue throughout 2016 She claimed that she heard that the former mayor Vasile Borta who represented the Liberal Party in the period 2011-2014 party that owned the Ministry of Environment was said that namely this company must win the tender in 2013 The law bodies are now investigating over this tender As for the equipment and staff of Litarcom SRL They worked with local equipment and people” Documents acquired by ZdG in „case Costesti” show that in 2013-2014 decision makers including from the Ministry of Environment approved the transfer of 6,7 million lei that reached the accounts of the company Litarcom without testing the works performed by this SRL An internal auditing of the Ministry reveals that the documents were sent to law bodies who in 2015 was a candidate on the lists of the Democratic Party in local elections denied of being ordered by the former leadership of the Ministry of Environment the company that was supposed to win the tender in 2013 and said that  „something like that is not said” Borta hung up and did not answer to other questions current minister of Environment confirms the schemes set with the help of the National Ecological Fund Munteanu declared with reference to an economic unit who came to his office and hinted that they are “heads” (they decide) over projects from the National Ecological Fund „When I came in office at the Ministry of Environment I noticed serious violations of the legal framework in the field of projects’ financing of the National Ecological Fund we ordered an audit of conformity as a priority to large projects which had clear evidence or suspicion of misappropriation of public funds They found several irregularities of management most of the information was sent for examination to law bodies to punish the guilty persons and repay the amount stolen If you refer to the case (Costesti) yet discovered in the first month of mandate it shows the catastrophic situation previously registered at the Ministry of Environment " Relations of the champion company at tenders together with his wife own 2 apartments in Chisinau both of them are put in pledge for credits worth some millions of lei is founder of another 2 SRLs with experience in winning public tenders: Avi-Bors where Jitari’s partner is Igor Munteanu who participated in some tenders as representative of Litarcom and Capillati founded by Jitari and Adrian Covas and he is executive director of SRL Litarcom Though this SRL has its main declared activity in „poultry trade” organized by the District Council Orhei for road reparation in village Ghetlova founded by Jitari and Covasi has the address in an apartment on str registered on the name of couple Nina and  Nicolae Covas The latter is the president of the Poultry Association in Moldova former candidate on the lists of Alliance Our Moldova (AMN) in the parliamentary elections in 2009 Covas was arrested by CNA officers for bribing as he demanded 90 thousands lei from a man to help him to get a plot that was owned by an enterprise many mayors spoke about this economic unit and the former minister of Environment Salaru said that he has not and had not any connection with this SRL He remembers that before the tender in Costesti he discussed with the mayor of this village and he claims that he has never told him what company must win the tender „There was a conflict between 2 companies that considered that they won He said that he had never influenced any mayor and that he had not decided on the allocation of the money from the National Ecological Fund (FEN) but a commission that had representatives both at the Ministry of Finances go and meet those from the Tender Committee and from the AAP that approved the correctness of the tenders It seemed to me that Litarcom won too many tenders though I realized that there will be problems as they assumed too many commitments and they had not capacities to complete them to the end” „I do not understand why you need it” We discussed with the executive director of Litarcom Adrian Covas they founded  the SRL „Capillati”  We asked him some questions and he did not answer We insisted to find from Covas the connection of the company with the works in Pelivan and Costesti: „Wherefrom did you take this information We sent the questions to him and we waited for an answer You want to provide information about what is done in the country for the population to have right sources of existence you can ask and you will get answers” we did not get an answer on behalf of the company In the message sent to the address Litarcom SRL we asked about the tenders worth 270 million lei about problems in many villages where the company won these tenders about the relations with political world and different functionaries of this SRL we requested the physical address of the company where the equipment is stored and the employees activate Law on public procurement says that the "most economically advantageous" winning bid will be considered when the winner of the tender is appointed In the case of agreements of public procurement on works criteria of establishing the most advantageous criteria are quality cost of a unit of the product of the bidder total price and the bidder's experience The law also establishes that the share price in the total bid evaluation shall not be less than 80% the main criterion for selection should be the lowest price provided that the value of the offer is not less than 85% of the estimated value of work we found several public tenders that designated winning the companies that did not propose the most advantageous prices.  Their analysis and reaction of people involved are suspicious An example is the tender for construction of water supply system in the village Pleseni by 2.6 million more than the lowest offer price (7 million) participants in the tender contested outcomes but their claims were rejected and the contract was registered on November 25 Explanations of the mayor and of the winning company Asked why the company that ranked 8th was nominated the winner elected on the list of the Democratic Party previously represented the Communist Party in the Republic of Moldova said that all participating companies had a license for installation of water supply but only four were licensed for installation of water tower "I thought that Polimer Gaz Complet will win based on price but it had no license for another type of work Other companies that we thought  would win The law says that one hour in construction work costs about 40 lei Two companies had much lower costs than the 15% limit permitted by law because later they could request another additional agreement This could not be accepted at the Public Procurement Agency.  The Anticorruption Center performed a search as a company wrote to CNA… we chose the most advantageous offer representatives of the two companies participating in the tender say that the lower price is explained by the fact that they are direct importers of materials (pipes they can carry out the works at a lower price compared to companies who purchase these materials in the Republic of Moldova disqualified for lack of license to mount water towers says that his company had metal construction license which would allow them to build water towers director and founder of Foremcons says that his company was the winner owing to the experience and works performed previously and mistakes admitted by other participants experience and price are taken into account .. Some of them do not include all materials in the offer Another tender which was not advantageous for the state from financial viewpoint was held in December 2015 in Mincenii de Jos The winner of the tender was Avi-Bors SRL that has the same owners as Litarcom SRL participated in this tender and proposed an offer by 90 thousands lei higher than the winner The offer of Avi-Bors for the construction of the water supply system of the village was estimated at 3 9 million lei and ranked 7th based on the price criterion The offer with 1,7 million smaller was that of Expocostas SRL (2 8 million lei) and Talimax Grup SRL (3 The results of the tender were contested by 3 participants: Expocostas Both the agreement and the contestations are being examined at AAP mayor of Mincenii de Jos said that Avi-Bors was designated winner as other participants did not present „appropriate documents” Asked if he was interested in the experience of this company and the works performed previously the mayor said that he was driving and he will call us some minutes later we called him several times but Stog did not answer when he said again that he was busy and to call him in 10 minutes from the winning company explained how the company founded by him participated in the tenders and whether he had an understanding with the mayor before the tender was held as a result of which an economic unit proposed a higher price than that of other participants and was appointed winner has been recently held in Durlesti for sewerage and piping works on str The first tender for this project was held on October 10 2015 and the winner was Vedacon SRL that proposed the lowest price The results of the tender were contested by other participants on the ground that the winning company admitted an error when it presented the banking guarantee and showed a smaller sum than the official one AAP rejected the registration of the agreement and the tender was repeatedly organized on December 24 2015 The winner was Vedacon SRL that proposed an offer by 1 3 million lei higher than the first tender and ranked 5 out of 6 participants based on the value of the offer Representatives of the Mayoralty in Durlesti say that currently the agreement is at AAP for registration but the results are contested and the Agency will take a decision after the contestations are examined to find out the „secret” of the repeated victory and how he explains the difference of 1.3 million lei for the offer proposed 2 months later Clapaniuc refused to discuss with us: „Leave me alone I do not want to comment these for unknown people but the director of Vedacon refused to continue the dialogue with us Tender from Seliste and the (un) known price by participants To understand how a tender takes place in a village in Moldova I participated in a tender organized by the Mayoralty Seliste for water supply and sewerage system in the village representatives of eight SRLs came in the office of the mayor Vasile Scripnic a representative of the company Expocostas SRL has submitted an offer and following some discussions between the mayor and the people who were in the office and checked the sum proposed by each SRL and the documents We heard discussions between participants that some knew the estimated price of the work the price should not be known to participants we discussed with representatives of 2 economic units about the company that has the best chance of winning One of them referred to the Capital FCI SRL because they were among those that claimed an estimated price of the work that was published This company proposed the lowest price and submitted the documents to tender at the last moment all participant companies were announced that Capital FCI SRL was the winner contacted by ZdG said that he had not signed the agreement as winner of the tender and the fact that he knew the price of the works is not a problem He said that the price can be found based on some calculi on information from the announcement of the tender SRL Capital FCI was founded in 1994 in district Orhei at some km distance from village Seliste Physical address of the company is in city Chisinau The plot that came into the possession of the mayor’s son The simplest tenders have predictable winners in most of cases the tenders for food products brought to schools or nurseries in the village or for plots are won by relatives of the functionaries in the Mayoralty a young man aged 23 Ivan Vortolomei won a tender for a plot of 1 hectare organized by the Mayoralty managed by his father Fiodor Vortolomei mayor’s son and an inhabitant of this village Ruslan Sugailo The National Integrity Commission (CNI) notified by the Territorial Office Soroca of the State Chancellor’s Office  investigated the case and reached the conclusion that „a non-transparent character and a formal attitude to  the public tender process carried out by the Mayoralty of village Cotova The rival of the mayor’s son did not have pretensions about the tender Ivan Vortolomei purchased the plot at the sum of 13 thousands lei CNI found the  „fictional character of Mr Sugailo Ruslan’s participation in the tender” The conflict of interests admitted by the mayor of the village Cotova was confirmed by CNI and shortly the National Anticorruption Center (CNA) fined the mayor with a sum of 2 thousands lei the local Council cancelled the tender and the plot came into possession of the Mayoralty the Mayoralty organized another tender and it was won by Iurie Nastas in Drochia.  Two months later the plot again came into possession of the mayor’s son based on a sale / purchase agreement which he signed with the winner of the tender „I bought it because I want to build a farm there I do not know wherefrom I bought it” who was elected this summer for a new mandate.  We asked Iurie Nastas if his participation in the tender was not formal as he sold the plot to the mayor’s son he just said that he found about the organization of this tender from someone in the village and he had not money to invest „ Someone was supposed to send money from Moscow I did not get the money and I decided to sell it I do not remember whom I sold and the sum of money Do you remember what you ate yesterday?” CNI and CNA fine the tenders’ rigging There are many cases; many of them are confirmed by relevant structures but without consequences either for mayors or winners of tenders the company of the family of the former mayor Claudia Ivanov won over 20 tenders estimated at one million lei for „ purchasing food products for kindergartens in the village” I was sure that the products will be quality the products will come on time and so on” this is the strange explanation of the mayor for ZdG the institution registered 42 cases of conflicts of interest between local mayors or deputy mayors who employed their relatives or helped them win tenders with the institution they manage CNI sent the information to CNI that applied 5 fines worth 2 thousands lei and other 3 fines worth 3 thousands lei the institution confirmed the expiry of the limitation period Only 2 out of 5 cases that ended up in fines are related to the rigging of some tenders: case of the mayor from Cotova and that of the mayor of Cotiujenii Mari who appointed a company founded by him and managed by his wife the SRL got the rental of 2 facilities inside the school at a very low price The mayor was fined 4 thousands lei for this violation Tenders „in family” are actually a rule especially when one of the family members is a functionary the companies of the presidents of districts won many public tenders society where the former president of district Calarasi Ilie Rau is shareholder won about 48 tenders in the period 2011-2015; the majority of them were organized by the council he leads Other 3 agreements were won by Asicon after local elections in June 2015 as a result of which Rau became district councilor on the lists of the Democratic Party Ilie Rau said that everything was carried out in a transparent manner and his office of president of district could not facilitate the access of his company to public money if I did not participate in the tender committees The company participated like other organizations … How could they not participate if they are from this district?” Asked about a conflict of interest the fact that his colleagues were part of these tender committees I did not sign the agreements …” The company of the liberal-democrat Grigore Cobzac benefited from agreements that stopped immediately after he quitted the office of president of district Hancesti when Cobzac was president of the District Council Hancesti founded by the current MP together with his son Victor had over 40 agreements with state institutions Most of these agreements were signed with mayoralties in Hincesti and with the District Council Hancesti that was managed by Cobzac since Grigore Cobzac has not been president of district Digricom has not won any public tender the MP said that the company managed by his son participated in 4 tenders including in villages managed by liberal-democratic mayors As for the tenders won by Digricom so far the MP says that the law was respected and his company used to win tenders before he was elected president of district „I want to know where exactly the law was violated because I can say that in the same district Hancesti there were organized many tenders where Digricom participated but has not won let us discuss about it before the article is published You can request the information about tenders which Digricom has won before I was elected president of district There were many of them. I was responsible for constructions all my life” „I had an extremely responsible approach You can meet the members of public procurement in the council who were not my sympathizers My worst rivals were in the group of public procurement Meet them and discuss with them about my approaches” The 2 cases presented above are not exceptions as the press wrote many cases about dozens of tenders won by the companies of presidents of districts Director of the Public Procurement Agency: You must inform the National Anti-corruption Center director of the Public Procurement Agency was asked about the corruption from the field he manages and he said that we must notify the National Anti-corruption Center (CNA) I would be curious to know if such actions happen” We called him again and we said that we wanted to discuss about this phenomenon Viorel Mosneaga was worried by the fact that one month ago founded by his sister won tenders worth 35 million lei in the past 2 years  „You do not have fair methods to ask for something You ask me about public procurement and the press will write I do not know what” Mosneaga said that „what you say is a serious issue If someone tells nonsense and says that he bribes it is not a reason to put a bomb under somebody”  We told the head from AAP that many persons spoke about cases of bribing the Agency: „If you know "If the procurement procedure is not conducted in a transparent manner this reduces competition - which means that the service provided will be at a higher cost because the basic concern in this case will not be providing the best service/goods the authority will not be interested to ask the completion of works on time it is likely that it will delay the commissioning poor quality requires reparation or renewing the delivery of services/goods or to replace them over the time The lack of transparency in a tender will discourage other applicants to submit an offer in future and will encourage the method to extract the rent for tenders (percentage from the sum for attributing the contract the so-called "otkat" (bribing)) Another effect of some agreements during the course of a tender could be inflating the needs of procurement services / goods of an institution for which the competition for price offers are organized  or if they are divided in small agreements procurement from a single source (under an urgent need  of motivation) This investigation has been produced as part of the “Shining a Light on Corruption in Moldova” Project implemented by the Centre for Investigative Journalism and Freedom House with the financial support of the Ministry of External Affairs of the Kingdom of Norway PR during pandemic in Chisinau and millions allocated in the absence of a tender to a "close" company to the mayor the mayor of Chisinau Ion Ceban was taking pictures in the background of several equipment units and announced with great pomp that he had started the renovation works of the pedestrian alley on Mircea cel Batran Blvd the equipment that dug a few ditches at the intersection with Petru Zadnipru Str and the City Hall subdivisions were to deal with the tenders for the designation of the company in charge with the repair of the alley the authorities of Chisinau did not organize a the state institutions in the Republic of Moldova spent over MDL 74.8 million for unplanned increases in the price of public procurements made about 700 additional agreements on increasing the value of the procurement contracts were signed the price increases approved by additional agreements amounted to MDL 222.2 million and MDL 310.3 million there are several reasons why the public authorities accept this in other cases - these are made because of someone’s interest or unwillingness of the contracting Perished food products with “bio” label in kindergartens in Chisinau: companies Several audio recordings of intercepted phone calls of employees of some kindergartens Youth and Sport of Chisinau and of several businessmen have shocked the public opinion Intercepted phone calls reveal that small children in kindergarten were supplied with perished food products Names of the persons involved are kept in secret by investigators who pretend to fear for the safety of the families who supplied the children with perished fish and meat Center for Investigative Journalism managed to identify some of the businessmen who appear in intercepted phone calls and analyzed the companies that Grand motorsports complex planned in Orhei Orhei authorities have announced two years ago about the construction of a European motorsports complex Almost two million lei were wasted for designing the complex: 1.2 million lei from the national budget and over 600,000 from the district budget because money was not earmarked for the construction The Court of Auditors found that the design was done in the absence of a feasibility study and the procurement group rejected the company that proposed the lowest price as the selection criterion was breached National Agency of Medicines and Medical Devices (AMDM) announces a public tender for supply with necessary medicines for hospitals in 2017 As much as about 500 million lei were earmarked for healthcare field Center for Investigative Journalism showed in an investigation that public money intended for procurement in Health – about 800 million lei - reached the accounts of seven companies Four of them were included in 2015 in the blacklist of the Public Procurement Agency after Moldovan medical institutions faced a drug shortage crisis which Modernization with criminal case at Moldova State University Illegal tender or attempted political revenge Moldova State University (USM) and the construction company Lagmar-Impex SRL started a few years ago a large investment for infrastructure development of the educational institution that would end in 2018 the company committed to renovating many dormitories for students and a classroom block USM ceded 2 plots in the center of the capital the company raised a huge residential complex which sells apartments whose prices start from 444 euros/ 1 square meter the "business" came into sight of Anticorruption prosecutors and officers The police suspected that the public tender for the Endless tenders for a project worth 8 million lei Residents in two villages in district Straseni risk losing a project worth eight million lei money that was earmarked for the construction of an aqueduct The tender for selecting the company in charge with works was already organized four times and each time it was challenged by several companies They disagree that they were disqualified for presenting lower prices than the project’s value members of the procurement group say that the law does not allow tenderers to radically decrease the amounts indicated by the designers The process can be delayed because the appeals are examined in the Schools with debts of millions on the brink of a new school year Lands and nonresidential spaces owned by Chisinau Citi Hall  is a real godsend for different economic units or people close to local public authorities Some of them rented spaces with a surface of hundreds of square meters at a price of just seven lei per square meter; others privatized entire buildings at the price required for a dorm room Although the law requires organizing public tenders for leasing and privatization of lands and buildings in the capital especially of non-residential spaces and lands Councilor-landowner and scandal with plots in Colonita The mandate of councilor made himself landowner in Colonita Igor Luchian has recently got 3 plots sold based on a decision of the council which he voted in that period he was part of the commission for public tenders Councilors from the opposition request return of the land to the village and accuse Luchian of conflict of interest the municipality is charged of "selling" the land based on deals to people who take advantage of changes in the law whereby the use of agricultural land can be changed by a vote of the local council and How was the state deprived of 30 million lei Banned sausages still being served to children in schools and kindergartens Tons of sausages are still being served to children in schools and kindergartens despite the discontent of some parents as well as an order of the Ministry of Health which has banned the overfat cold cuts since 2012 The ministry has recently issued another order by which it wishes to indefeasibly take the sausages off the menu in schools and kindergartens since 1st of June  As only a few days are left until then it is not known whether all the kindergartens will manage to remove the sausages from the menu Incompetence in public procurement costs us millions "Eminent" In Squandering Money for Derelict Schools At least ten schools of Chișinău municipality have been closed over the past years because of the small number of pupils the buildings of phantom schools still continue to devour millions of lei from the municipal budget Experts argue that an estimate of the number of pupils and schools should be done and that planning of the use of empty areas should be done based on the respective figures: either to change their destination Road Repair in Chișinău and the Interests of the Mayor Dorin Chirtoacă Works Worth Millions Abandoned on the Construction Site at the Presidency Building The 7th of April 2009 meant scattered hopes and the depletion of the budget by the urge to repair the buildings of the Parliament and of the Presidency destroyed during the violent protests While the Parliament building was renovated in the meantime an abandoned construction site lies opposite the renovation works were stopped back in 2011 a sufficient amount for performing half of the works The authorities have not allocated any funds to preserve the building How the Local Government of Zîrnești Trifles the Public Money Away district of Cahul has compromised a lot of projects with public funds Over one million was thrown away for road renovation everywhere were placed video surveillance cameras the mayoralty hired a relative of the mayor and dubious schemes were applied during the execution of certain public works A Public Servant from Orhei Has Organised Auctions for His Family’s Company The company of a public servant of Orhei won being a favourite in a number of public procurement tenders The former Chief of the Economy Directorate of Orhei District Council who also was the deputy chairman of the working group in charge of procurements facilitated during the period 2011-2014 the winning of a number of procurement contracts with the local government by the company "DCRR-Orhei" JSC founded and managed at the time by his son When the district authorities started to call him to account for the infringements committed Who dribbles the law in the file of the National Stadium The National Stadium situated in the centre of the capital city where the most important football matches were played in former times the Communist governance decided to renovate the sports arena and the company Basconslux was designated to do the demolition the costs of the works at that stage being estimated at eight million lei that was the winner in a number of public tenders after a long correspondence with the authorities A former mayor of Peticeni reaped a bakery at the expense of kindergarten children A Dubious Acquisition: How the Town of Cahul Has Got a Defective Snow Removal Machine Member of Parliament – Favourite Suppliers to State Institutions Two out of the nine companies owned by the Democrat MP Oleg Sârbu are constant suppliers of food and fuel to three psycho-neurological boarding houses from the northern part of the country all of which are under the subordination of the Ministry of Labour The former minister says she has not influenced anyhow the tenders Tenders for the family of the Director of the Public Procurement Agency A Project for the Dump of Bubuieci Compromised by the Interests allocated 3 years ago by the National Ecological Fund (NEF) to the local government of Bubuieci for the purchase of two mobile stations for construction waste processing has become a matter of prosecutorial investigation The General Prosecutor’s Office (GP) has initiated a penal case for embezzlement The GP’s Office informed us about it in the response to an inquiry nobody knows who exactly is prosecuted – the former members of NEF Board of Directors who disbursed Millions of the City Hall “buried” in 41 yards in Chisinau obliged to allocate one million lei for equipment they don’t need Vladimir Molojen was acquitted after he enriched his family’s company during his tenure The stories from www.anticoruptie.md may be used in the limit of up to 1,000 characters Web pages must indicate the source and link directly to the article Radio and TV stations must indicate the source Publishing full version of stories is allowed based on a prior agreement with the Center for Investigative Journalism Articles published on www.anticoruptie.md are protected by the Law on copyright and related rights of Republic of Moldova