All the local councilors of the Bucharest City Hall receive bribes to vote for major-impact projects, according to a report of the National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA). The councilors get money to vote on projects where there are assets at stake or that are outside the legal framework.

Taking bribes is a “notorious practice in this environment,” reads the document cited by local Profit.ro.

The conclusion comes as the DNA prosecutors discovered that the French company Apa Nova, which supplies the water and sewerage services in Bucharest, bribed the local councilors to get additional benefits. The scandal broke last week when the anticorruption prosecutors arrested three people, including one of Bucharest mayor Sorin Oprescu’s advisors.

The General Council of Bucharest has 54 members. Sorin Oprescu himself is currently under arrest on bribery charges, in another case.

editor@romania-insider.com