Corruption in Moldova describes the prevention and occurrence of

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense that is undertaken by a person or an organization that is entrusted in a position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's gain. Corruption may involve activities ...

Moldova Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe, with an area of and population of 2.42 million. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. ...

. The government in Moldova has in recent years taken several steps to fight corruption, including law enforcement and institutional setups. The prosecution of officials who are involved in corruption has also increased in recent years. However, businesses consider corruption a serious problem for doing business, and the business environment continues to be one of the most challenging in the region.

History

According to

Transparency International Transparency International e.V. (TI) is a German registered association founded in 1993 by former employees of the World Bank. Based in Berlin, its nonprofit and non-governmental purpose is to take action to combat global corruption with civil s ...

, 37% of Moldovans reported paying a

bribe Bribery is the corrupt solicitation, payment, or acceptance of a private favor (a bribe) in exchange for official action. The purpose of a bribe is to influence the actions of the recipient, a person in charge of an official duty, to act contrar ...

in 2010. One of the most perceived corrupt institutions is the police. A large anti-corruption protest was held in

Chișinău Chișinău ( , , ; formerly known as Kishinev) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Moldova, largest city of Moldova. The city is Moldova's main industrial and commercial centre, and is located in the middle of the coun ...

in September 2015 following a $1 billion (£655 million) bank fraud. A 2020 paper published by the Legal Resources Centre from Moldova and sponsored by

USAID The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an agency of the United States government that has been responsible for administering civilian United States foreign aid, foreign aid and development assistance. Established in 19 ...

analyzed the need for a specialized anti-corruption court. On 19 April 2021, the

Council of Europe Action Plan for the Republic of Moldova 2021–2024 The Council of Europe Action Plan for the Republic of Moldova 2021–2024 () was a strategic initiative of the Council of Europe (CoE) and the Moldovan authorities with the aim of improving the legislation and state institutions of Moldova and app ...

was signed in

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

, France. It is an

action plan An action plan is a detailed plan outlining actions needed to reach one or more goals. Alternatively, it can be defined as a "sequence of steps that must be taken, or activities that must be performed well, for a strategy to succeed". Process ...

which, among other things, aims to combat corruption in the country. In March 2023, the establishment of the Anti-Corruption Court of Moldova. According to President

Maia Sandu Maia Sandu (; born 24 May 1972) is a Moldovan politician who is serving as the sixth president of Moldova since 2020. She is the founder and former leader of the Party of Action and Solidarity and was Prime Minister of Moldova, prime minister o ...

, the court was necessary in order to accede to the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

. The ACC was to be the focus of Parliamentary business from April 2023. A white paper document was published in June 2023. The

IMF The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution funded by 191 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of la ...

took notice in a March 2024 report. The

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; , CdE) is an international organisation with the goal of upholding human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it is Europe's oldest intergovernmental organisation, represe ...

is involved. In February 2025 Transparency International included Moldova among the "Significant Improvers" for the Eastern European and Central Asian region, attributing the improvement to the reformed judiciary of President Sandu's government, which, spearheaded by the new Anti-Corruption Court, has actively pursued corrupt officials. On Transparency International's 2024

Corruption Perceptions Index The Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) is an index that scores and ranks countries by their perceived levels of public sector corruption, as assessed by experts and business executives. The CPI generally defines corruption as an "abuse of entr ...

Moldova scored 43 on a scale from 0 ("highly corrupt") to 100 ("very clean"), a gain of 13 points since 2016. When ranked by score, Moldova ranked 76th among the 180 countries in the Index, where the country ranked first is perceived to have the most honest public sector. For comparison with regional scores, the highest score was 53, the average score was 35 and the lowest score was 17. For comparison with worldwide scores, the best score was 90 (ranked 1), the average score was 43, and the worst score was 8 (ranked 180).

Notes

References

External links

Moldova Corruption Profile
from the Business Anti-Corruption Portal {{Moldova topics

Government of Moldova Crime in Moldova by type Politics of Moldova

Law of Moldova Economy of Moldova Society of Moldova

History

See also

Notes

References

External links