Bucharest District 3 mayor indicted for abuse of office

The mayor of Bucharest’s District 3, Robert Negoita, six employees of the City Hall, a member of the Court of Accounts and a representative of sanitation services company Rosal were indicted by prosecutors of the National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA) as they have allegedly breached the law when extending a waste collection and street cleaning contract between District 3 and Rosal.

The representative of the Court of Accounts has reportedly covered the deeds, reported initially in 2013.

During the years 2013-2018, several additional documents were concluded to a sanitation contract signed by District 3 with Rosal Grup, with the effect of either extending the contract or increasing its value.

Instead of organizing public tenders, the sanitation contract concluded in 1999 was allegedly repeatedly extended through additional documents that have also resulted in the increase of sanitation tariffs.

The violations found by the Court of Accounts as a result of the control carried out at the District 3 City Hall were validated by the Court of Administrative Litigation in 2017.

In order to retroactively cover the illegalities of the extension of the original contract, the officials of the District 3 City Hall have allegedly initiated a legal process through which, during 2018, the additional documents were retroactively approved by the local Council.

(Photo: Inquam Photos / Sabin Cirstoveanu)