Public sector spent on cars and laptops in four months as much as in the entire 2009

Laxatives, socks, armchairs, pillows, cookers, hand driers, toilet brushes, vacuum cleaners, power strips, soap dispensers, cars, laptops, computers, mobile phones, air conditioners, photocopiers, colour laser printers are products that government institutions and state-held companies spent over 100 million euros on in the first four months of the year.
Another 24 million euros have been budgeted for similar acquisitions, so the cumulated value of such purchases is close to the value recorded over the whole of 2009, according to Mediafax news agency.
In the current economic context, with state expenses targeted by major cuts, the amount that the state spends on acquisitions is "Shocking. It means excessive consumption habits have been created in the public sector. How can you spend this amount on devices that so much has already been spent on," says Florin Pogonaru, chairman of the Businesspeople's Association in Romania (AOAR).
The value of public procurement contracts between January and April 2010 is double as much as in 2007 (50 million euros), and is close to the amount recorded for the whole of 2009 (140 million euros). In 2008 public acquisitions totalled 500 million euros.