According to Gheorghe Hazder, of the total area designated for reforestation, only 40% was assessed as being in satisfactory condition. The remaining areas were classified as unsatisfactory because the planting work was either only partially completed or not completed at all.
During field inspections, it was discovered that 81,5 thousand seedlings were missing—they appear in the documents but were not found on site. At the same time, near the village of Ketriș, inspectors discovered another 41 ,700 seedlings “abandoned right on the ground, dried up”—that is, dead.
The inspection report also highlights the reserve’s financial problems. It “has been recording losses for several years in a row, and its total debt exceeds 4.3 million lei.” Meanwhile, the minister claims that the reserve’s employees have not received their salaries for five months.
According to him, this is not an isolated incident. He said that a few weeks ago, an audit report was completed on the forestry enterprise in Glodeni, where serious violations were identified regarding the management of forest resources and the use of forest assets. Following that audit, the enterprise’s director was dismissed.
“Let me remind you: we have zero tolerance for incompetence, corruption, or damage to our natural heritage. We will be stepping up oversight in the near future,” stated the Minister of the Environment.
From the author: Just out of curiosity: the saplings disappeared, and the workers went nearly half a year without pay. But violations were identified after all. And just in time—right in the midst of a wave of audits into financial violations in other agencies. The “clean hands—retroactively” charade continues.
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