Defense Minister: Two blocks of flats in Pitesti were built illegally near an ammunition depot

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According to the minister, following internal controls, irregularities were identified in the approval process, and 18 people from the ministry, including officers with the rank of brigadier general, were sent for investigation. Radu Miruţă stated that the checks ordered after taking office revealed a new case, which he compared to the situation previously presented in Craiova.

„We have the case of the approval, and I note that it is a habit after what happened in Craiova, the illegal approval of a civil construction near a large ammunition depot in the municipality of Piteşti. Two blocks, 128 apartments, were built, in our assessment, illegally, at a distance of 100 meters, when the law required a distance of 200 meters, near the ammunition depot at the military unit in Piteşti,” the minister said.

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According to him, the first approval requested in 2019 was negative, because the distance from the ammunition depot did not comply with the legal provisions. The minister also presented the sequence of documents analyzed by the control team within the ministry.

„In 2019, in the classic way, an opinion was requested from the Ministry of Defense in April. The opinion was negative, because it was checked and found that the distance was too small. Two weeks later, the same opinion was requested again (…) and here the second time a negative opinion was given. Two months later, upon a third identical request, in violation of the law, a positive opinion was given. That was the moment when the barrier was raised to start these constructions,” said Radu Miruţă.

The head of the MApN claimed that the institution also identified an agreement concluded between the ministry and the Piteşti City Hall, which established a 200-meter protection zone around the ammunition depot.

„We found an agreement signed in Piteşti, between the Ministry of Defense and the Piteşti City Hall, regarding a limit of 200 meters, distance from the ammunition depot. The City Hall had signed this agreement, that agreement existed and, although it existed in the City Hall and there was awareness about it, it was pretended not to be known and an approval was given to build these blocks”, said the minister.

Radu Miruţă announced that the results of the control had been transmitted to the investigative bodies. „There are 18 people from the Ministry of Defense involved, all of them were sent for investigation to the DNA, people with lower ranks, but including people with the rank of brigadier general. The approval of such decisions passed through their hands”, he said.

At the same time, the minister specified that he had requested the Defense General Staff to analyze the possibility of relocating the ammunition depot. „I asked the Chief of the Defense Staff for an analysis and a roadmap to see how and at what cost the warehouse will be moved from there, if that is the decision,” said Miruţă.

The Defense Minister specified that the MApN will also inform local authorities about the conclusions of the inspection. „We are not in an okay situation with two blocks, 128 apartments next to a warehouse where we know what is there. We are also notifying the city hall, the County Council and the Construction Inspectorate,” said Radu Miruţă.

The Minister added that the checks ordered at the level of the Defense Ministry continue and that other conclusions resulting from the inspections are to be presented.