Scandal in Chisinau greening procurement? A PAS councilor claims possible overvaluations of almost 900.000 lei

The municipal councilor of the Action and Solidarity Party (PAS), Ion Melnic, announces that he will notify the National Anticorruption Center (CNA) and the Court of Accounts regarding alleged irregularities in the purchases of trees, shrubs and flowers made by the Municipal Enterprise "Association for the Management of Green Spaces". He claims that he has identified differences between the contractual requirements and the situation on the ground, which would have generated unjustified expenses of almost 900.000 lei in a single contract.

According to data collected from the public procurement system since July 2025, in the last four major tenders organized by the enterprise, the lowest-priced bids were rejected six times, and the contracts were awarded to the same company each time.

In one case, in a tender for the purchase of trees organized this year, the lowest-priced offer was disqualified as non-compliant because the guaranteed validity period was 56 days, compared to the 60 days provided for in the documentation. According to the councilor, this four-day difference led to the award of the contract to another company and an additional cost of almost 250.000 lei from the municipal budget.

"In the last four major Green Spaces auctions, the cheapest offer was rejected six times, and each time the contract was awarded to the same company," said Ion Melnic.

The councilor claims that this year, the company obtained contracts worth 6,7 million lei out of the total of 9,7 million lei awarded for the greening of the city.

Another irregularity reported by Ion Melnic concerns the planting of shrubs on Renașterii Naționale Boulevard. According to him, the plants were delivered in pots with a volume of approximately two liters, although the contractual documents provided for ten-liter containers.

The councilor states that the differences found would have generated unjustified costs for both the seedlings and the planting works. He claims that he has already identified deviations estimated at 276.000 lei, and the total value of possible overvaluations could reach almost 900.000 lei, within a contract worth approximately 4,5 million lei.

Another reported situation concerns the purchase of 400 plane trees, worth approximately 1,28 million lei. According to Melnic, the documentation provided for trees in containers with a volume of 70–90 liters, but on site, he identified containers of no more than 30 liters.

In this context, the councilor announced that he will send the collected documents and photos to the National Anticorruption Center and the Court of Accounts. He requests verification of contracts, receipts and payments made for the greening works.

According to the financial data presented by the advisor, the company has obtained, from 2020 to date, contracts worth a total of 33 million lei from the Chisinau City Hall and its subdivisions. The amount would represent over 90% of the value of public contracts won by the company.

At the same time, the net profit declared by the company would have increased almost 70 times, from 257.000 lei in 2021 to 18,7 million lei last year.

"Chisinau needs new trees, and each tree is paid for with people's money. Yes, planting costs money, but who checks whether exactly what is required in the contract ends up in the ground?", Melnic added.

Contacted by IPN for a reaction, the spokesperson of the Municipal Enterprise "Association for the Management of Green Spaces", Victor Nichituș, stated that an internal audit was recently conducted, during which the tenders for the purchase of planting material, including recently planted trees, were checked. According to him, no violations were found following the inspection.