Please support a family affected by poverty!
Please support a family affected by poverty!
Original Romanian text translated into English
Original Romanian text translated into English
Description
IBAN RO36ROIN4021DJEWTLH4BYIW
Patrascu Ionut
Swift: ROINROBU
Somewhere on the outskirts of Gorj County, in a house that looks more like a shed, where daylight filters in a greyish hue through the only window left unbricked, live Albert and Ionela, two children aged 8 and 5, alongside their parents. The father, Ion Borugă, has a partial paralysis that has left him with no strength in his right arm and leg, so he is forced to stay at home, whilst his wife has been shouldering the burden for several years. She has to go out to work in the village on a daily basis to earn money, given that the family’s only income is the children’s child benefit.
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The sad story of the Borugă family was shared on Facebook by a few young people moved by the harsh conditions in which the four of them live. They arrived at the humble home in Vladimir just as the mother of the two children was putting two loaves of bread in the oven to bake, so she would have something to feed the little ones.
The so-called stove, with its cracked hob, is the only source of heat in that room, plastered with mud and with earthen floors, where the Borugă couple and their two children live. The woman carries the wood on her back from the forest. Apart from these extremely harsh living conditions, the couple have another problem: the little boy has been assessed by doctors and has health issues, and his mother has to take him to school because otherwise Albert is not allowed into class (?!).
“Are we really living in the 21st century? A sick father with no help from the state? What sort of country are we living in? Cases like this break my heart! Can you MPs really sleep soundly, with full bellies, during your luxury holidays? While you’re pampering yourselves in Dubai, every day, dozens of children are crying from hunger and the cold! (...) Can we do something for this family too? Can we bring joy to their hearts this Christmas? Let’s make a difference for our little ones this winter, let’s make sure Father Christmas comes to them too! Anyone who’d like to help can contact me! +491709549842 Or on WhatsApp 0763766189”, wrote Daniela Elena Cîrjan, the young woman who brought the Borugă family’s plight to light.
For those wishing to donate
Account holder: Patrascu Ionut
Currency: RON
Bank name: Salt Bank
With the reference “Ajutor Copii”
Once the money has been collected, we will provide proof of how much has been received and what is being done with it.
Other young people from Tg-Jiu, moved by the sad story of the two little children, will be travelling to Vladimir in the coming days.
“They need clothes, food; we’ll go to see them next week and find out exactly what else they need. Perhaps some medicines. There are two children... Maybe we can find someone to build them a stove, something decent. Some blankets for the winter, a little Christmas tree for the children...”, wrote Diana.
The GorjExpress editorial team is joining this initiative and will donate some essential goods and food to the Borugă family.
Next topics
A million dollars, a hole in Motru Town Hall’s budget!
Spanish investor sued for non-payment of bills
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Posted 11 hours ago 21 April 2026
A recent report by the Court of Auditors reveals a masterful scheme on how a local budget can be ‘cosmetically enhanced’ through mechanisms that defy not only economic logic but also basic legal frameworks. It concerns a seemingly routine direct procurement for repair works, which turned into a scheme to siphon public funds from Schela Town Hall into the accounts of Gospodăria Locală Godinești SRL, a company owned by Godinești Local Council. Under the signature of Mayor Gabriel Deteșan, the institution managed the feat of paying for items that do not exist and accepting artificially inflated rates, in a defiant case of so-called administrative short-sightedness. C
The miracle at Schela! Items paid for that do not appear on site
It all began under the auspices of a direct procurement procedure, initiated in the SEAP system, for repair works at the Sâmbotin Cultural Centre. Schela Town Hall, under the baton of ‘magician’ Gabriel Deteșan, estimated the works at 149,553 lei, based on a quotation which, at first glance, complied with the thresholds imposed by the Public Procurement Law. However, what was supposed to be a simple routine repair turned, with the signing of the contract on 24 July 2023, into a veritable case study of how money can be lost amidst the lines of invoices.
The most striking irregularity – though perhaps not the most costly in absolute terms, yet deeply symptomatic of a lack of concern for public funds – concerns the lighting section. The auditors discovered that the City Council had generously claimed for 12 lighting fixtures (recessed ceiling lights). During the site visit, however, the administrative figures clashed with physical reality. To be clear, only 10 units were identified; the remaining two existed only on paper, having been included by the person who drew up the supply invoice. The difference of 238 lei, representing work not carried out, was paid without any objection from the acceptance committee. This committee, through the minutes drawn up on 23 October 2023, certified that everything was in order, ‘without noting any deficiencies’. It is hard to believe that a team of specialists cannot count to 12, a fact which leads to the conclusion of gross negligence or, worse still, complicity.
Cost overrun and contractual amnesia
Whilst the ceiling lights may be a case of simple counting errors, the rest of the cost estimate items enter the realm of a far more subtle and costly form of financial engineering. The Court of Auditors’ auditors compared the financial bid accepted at the tender stage with the subsequent work statements. Naturally, this revealed a glaring discrepancy between what was promised and what was actually paid for out of the residents’ money in Schela.
The example of the porcelain tile cladding is nothing short of outrageous. Although the unit price quoted was 57.36 lei/sq m, the Council accepted payment, without any solid legal justification, at a price of 75.50 lei/sq m. For an area of 193 square metres, this ‘calculation error’ drained an unwarranted sum of 4,120 lei from the local budget. The scenario was repeated with suspicious regularity in the case of the galvanised steel gutters. The price jumped, as if by magic, from 67.08 lei/sq m to 97.75 lei/sq m, causing further financial loss.
In total, by accepting these prices inflated “on a whim” and the phantom works, the local budget was fleeced of 7,913 lei. Although not a huge sum, it shows that the relevant staff within the organisation failed to monitor the execution of the contract and the legality of the commitments. In practice, at Schela Town Hall, public money was left at the contractor’s mercy, under the indulgent gaze of Mayor Gabriel Deteșan.
The irony is that the work on the Sâmbotin Cultural Centre was carried out without a building permit, as stated by the State Construction Inspectorate in a response to a petition from a local councillor in Schela.
A council that operates on a wing and a prayer
Beyond the amount of the loss, the Court of Auditors’ report highlights a systemic problem, namely a total lack of planning. Incredibly for a public institution, the entity was unable to present the Annual Public Procurement Programme (PAAP). This omission is not merely a bureaucratic shortcoming, but evidence of the chaotic manner in which the community’s resources are spent. Without an annual programme, procurement becomes a reaction to immediate needs, leaving the door open to abuse and a lack of transparency.
The Court of Auditors was forced to intervene with recommendations regarding the urgent drafting of the annual procurement programme and, above all, the recovery of damages from those responsible.
Mayor Gabriel Deteșan now has a moral and legal duty to the citizens to explain why the institution he leads has become a playground for inflated prices and acceptance of work with a blind eye, but this will not happen.
Posted 5 days ago 17 April 2026
Gorj County is on the brink of an unprecedented social collapse, as restructuring plans in the energy and administrative sectors send thousands of people straight onto the registers of the County Employment Agency (AJOFM). In a seemingly endless wave of redundancies, over 4,000 employees are losing their jobs in the first half of this year, turning the county into an area of major economic uncertainty, given that investments through the Just Transition Fund do not yet offer employment options for those left without an income. The dark side of the restructuring includes not only CE Oltenia, but also service providers, local production units and, soon, the public administration.
PrivacyPolicyTheCE Oltenia Mass Layoff – 2,093 people made redundant
The staff reduction process at the Oltenia Energy Complex began abruptly on 1 April, when 1,376 employees on fixed-term contracts officially left the company. Although the initial restructuring plan targeted 1,476 people, the final figure was adjusted after 100 employees retired during the same period, partially covering the redundancy requirement imposed by management.
However, the grim restructuring schedule does not end there. According to the agreed strategy, the next phase will take place on 1 May, when a further 317 fixed-term contracts will expire by law. The pressure will then shift to administrative staff, as the same company management aims to cut a further 400 posts from TESA’s structure.
Ultimately, the energy giant’s workforce will be reduced by a total of 2,093 people, a massive loss of labour that will leave a deep mark on the local economy.
Minprest and UATAA Motru hit by redundancies
The shockwave of restructuring at CEO has spread rapidly to its service providers. Minprest has already begun a major reorganisation process, resulting in the redundancy of 170 workers since January. Of these, 64 have already registered with the Gorj County Employment Agency to claim unemployment benefit.
The instability continues at Minprest, where a second round of redundancies is planned. A further 69 people are set to be made redundant, with the cuts mainly affecting 50 firefighters and 19 employees in the TESA sector.
The picture of economic disaster is completed by the situation at UATAA Motru, where a further 130 employees are swelling the ranks of the county’s unemployed.
The statistics of despair
The reality of the figures translates into enormous pressure on social welfare institutions. Of the first wave of 1,376 people made redundant from CE Oltenia at the start of April, 846 have already registered for unemployment benefit. A further 207 former employees from the company’s structures are in the process of submitting the necessary documentation.
Staff at the Gorj County Employment Agency are facing an unprecedented workload, as the number of redundancies continues to rise.
PrivacyPolicy2,000 redundancies loomed in the public sector
Although the current figures are alarming, the outlook for the coming months is bleak. June is set to be a critical moment for public sector employees. With the completion of the reorganisation of public institutions, it is estimated that around 2,000 people will be made redundant.
Taken together, the figures indicate a loss of over 4,000 jobs in Gorj in just six months, a situation that calls into question the local labour market’s capacity to absorb them, given that investments using FTJ funds have not been finalised and do not yet provide enough jobs, even though the authorities had announced around 1,500 new jobs in Gorj for this year.
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