Irina Vlah, chairwoman of the Republican Party “Inima Moldovei,” analyzed the procurement plans of several ministries and said she was stunned by the amounts the state plans to spend on far less essential items: “hundreds of millions of lei are being thrown away.”

“The authorities keep saying there is no money — neither to increase teachers’ salaries, nor to support farmers, young people, culture, sports and other areas. At the same time, hundreds of millions of lei are being wasted on public procurement that has nothing to do with either priorities or pressing needs.

I analyzed the procurement plans of several ministries and was stunned by the amounts the state plans to spend on far from essential things. The absolute champion here is the Ministry of Defense. Its 2026 procurement plan allocates more than 472 million lei just for capital construction and major repairs. And we are not talking about feeding military personnel or improving their living conditions, but about construction and renovations. Is this really the priority today, given the serious budget crisis?” she said.

Irina Vlah said the Ministry of Finance has planned more than 59 million lei in procurement this year. These include replacing windows, blinds, curtains, carpets and other items. Can all of this really not be postponed in a year when the country is facing serious financial difficulties?

The analysis also shows that the Ministry of Internal Affairs plans procurement worth 22.3 million lei. Some expenditures are particularly difficult to explain. For example, security services for the ministry’s own building. A ministry with thousands of police officers and carabinieri at its disposal is also paying someone to guard its own building? There are other clearly non-essential expenses as well — flowers, floral arrangements, blinds and so on.

“A brief overview of the other ministries: the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has planned public procurement worth 21 million lei this year; the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection — 16 million; the Ministry of Infrastructure and Regional Development — 12.5 million; the Ministry of Health — 8 million; and the Ministry of Economic Development and Digitalization — also 8 million lei, and so on. I am deliberately not including some ministries with a strong social focus, such as the Ministry of Education and Research, which has planned more than 190 million lei in procurement this year. Such a ministry does, after all, have its own specific needs,” the politician said.

The political leader emphasized that, in total, the ministries alone have planned approximately one billion lei in public procurement this year, and many of these expenditures are genuinely difficult to call necessary. If procurement by other central government authorities is added, the amount will be even higher.

“Therefore, I call on the central authorities to review this year’s procurement plans. Eliminate all expenditures that are not priorities and that can be done without today. People are struggling to make ends meet, while public money continues to be wasted. Show at least some basic solidarity with citizens,” Irina Vlah urged.