Ministry of Energy is investigating some information received from inside the mining companies, according to which there would have been fictitious and undue employment within these companies, the relevant minister, Virgil Popescu, said on Wednesday.

“I am worried that there are signs in the underground mining area that fictitious hirings took place, for example at the Hunedoara Energy Complex, where, every time there were unannounced checks, people were notified and everyone was present,” the minister said.

At the same time, at the Crucea mine, it would be about people who were actually out of the country while they were employed in the National Uranium Company.

“The same goes for the Crucea mine. At this mine, in the period 2018-2019, around 130 jobs were made ad-hoc, and I do not understand the economic reasons for which those jobs were made because the production of Uranium ore has not grown. Moreover, I have signals that some of the employees of Crucea went to work abroad to pick strawberries, asparagus, whatever it was, and at the same time they were registered as working at the Crucea mine. The information comes, just like at the Hunedoara Complex, also from inside the company”, Popescu claimed, according to Agerpres.

Also, the price of uranium ore, after restructuring, fell by 50%.

“The former management of the National Uranium Company (CNU) made a mockery of this company – of which the Crucea mine is a part – and they intentionally bankrupted it. We will do some cross-checks to clarify the situation, we will ask the Ministry of Labor for the lists of people who have left, because it is not normal for someone to make a mockery of this company and of the miners who really work there and on their end to make money incorrectly,” the official continued.

According to him, there are rumors that undue benefits would have been received for these fictitious hirings.