Members of the Association of Veterans of the Nistru War criticize four NGO leaders promoting the veterans' interests, accusing them of complotting with the rulers, Info-Prim Neo reports. “For 17 years, these people have profited from veterans for personal purposes, disregarding war invalids, widows and their children,” Valeriu Ciobanu, the secretary of the organization, told a news conference on Friday. He meant Eduard Maican, the president of the National Union of Independence War Veterans, Mihai Tomacinschi, the president of the Chisinau cell of the same organization, Victor Alergus, the president of the National Union of Veterans “St. George” and Stefan Trofim, the president of the Union of the Participants in the Military Conflict. Valeriu Ciobanu says a fair number of the disabled have not benefited from the state's assistance on the occasion of March 2 (the day when the hostilities started in 1992), while the veterans unions jointly with the Government organized big events. Iurie Marian, a class 1 war disabled, has complained he has been asking for financial assistance for an operation from Eduard Maican for eight years, but unsuccessfully. “He gave me but one thousand lei. Now I am not being received and my phone calls are not returned,” the combatant said. When asked by Info-Prim Neo, Eduard Maican has rejected the accusations, specifying the Government transfers no money to the accounts of war veterans. “The war veterans got money from the government as social assistance. The ones who have not received any are probably not registered by the local administrations,” Eduard Maican said. The Association of Veterans of the Nistru War also accuses Eduard Maican, Mihai Tomacinschi, Victor Alergus and Stefan Trofim of involving in the election race supporting different political parties. Victor Alergus has told Info-Prim Neo the veterans union have no right to back political entities and strictly abide by this objective.