Romanian NGO Requests Disclosure Of EU-Funded Contracts, Classified By Ex-Labor Min

05.05.2011 By Bostan Radu

The Romanian Institute for Public Policy (IPP), a non-government organization, asked Prime Minister Emil Boc to repeal an order by former Labor Minister Ioan Botis, which classified information on the use of non-refundable European financing, or it will challenge it in court.

Before leaving the ministry, Botis and Cristina Zevedei, the former head of the Management Authority for the Operational Program for Human Resource Development (AMPOSDRU), classified all information on contracts with European financing, an act which the IPP says was non-transparent and in violation of Romanian law on the free access to information of public interest, says a Thursday press release.

One of the contracts was for a project run by an NGO which employed Botis' wife as an advisor.

The classify order was issued on April 4, 2011. Three days earlier, the IPP had sent a request for information of public interest to AMPOSDRU, seeking copies of the financed contracts, program evaluation reports, files on the procurement auction and the list of project evaluators.

The IPP has informed the European Commission and the embassies of EU members in Bucharest about the abuse carried out through such acts, and plans to challenge the minister order in court, if it is not repealed by the Prime Minister.

Romania's National Integrity Agency (ANI) has asked the National Anticorruption Department (DNA) to investigate claims of conflict of interest brought against Botis. ANI inspectors said there are substantial clues that Botis is guilty of conflict of interest raised by the fact that his wife is an adviser on a EU and Government-funded project, run by the Bistrita-Nasaud county-based NGO Asociatia Parteneriat Euroactiv.

Cristina Zevedei was replaced by Carmen Ionel, with Boc explaining that he wants a transparent investigation.