Romanian Procurement Watchdog Refuses To Present Files To Parl Inquiry Committee

Petru Lakatos, deputy with the Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR), criticized the fact that the public procurement watchdog changed its rules on July 9 and set that procurement files would be presented only to the judiciary.

The deputy said it is inadmissible that an authority subordinated to the government should not be allowed to present the files either to the prime minister or the Government. 

The president of the investigation committee, Ludovic Orban, said the letter sent by the authority to the commission, in which it refuses to present the required files, is signed by Corneliu Burada, one of the institution’s vice-presidents.

The authority’s decision was also criticized by Aura Vasile, social democrat deputy, who proposed the prime minister should demand explanations from the president of the public procurement watchdog. Her proposal was agreed on by all the members of the committee.

Last week, the parliamentary inquiry committee asked the public procurement watchdog to present the surveillance files in the case of the Tourism Ministry. The authority sent the commission a letter announcing that its new functioning regulations effective as of July 9, set that the surveillance files can only be made available to judicial authorities.