Weekly Roundup
December 21, 2023
Welcome back to Moldova Matters! Today we’re getting caught up on news from the last 2 weeks after our article last week focused on the news that Moldova will begin accession negotiations with the European Union. This will be our last Moldova Matters before Western Christmas (December 25th). We’ll have a slightly more fluid publishing schedule over the holidays but will come back with a series of new articles as 2024 begins.
Politics - Mayor Ceban vs the Press
This week TV8 published an investigation into irregularities in party financing around this year’s local election campaigns. In the last 4 month’s we’ve discussed many topics of illegal party financing involving bags of cash, voter bribery and all manner of financial improprieties leading up to the elections - most often from Shor linked political parties. This investigation looked at something different - official campaign donations.
TV8 journalists focused on officially registered donations to Mayor Ceban’s MAN Party and the Shor linked Renaissance Party. In the case of MAN, the party raised 2.8 million lei from 400 donors, the majority of whom worked for government institutions linked to the mayor’s office. Nearly 100% of the recorded donations were made in cash. Further, public records of donations showed patterns that strongly suggested organization. For example, most or all employees of a city institution donating the same amount of money on the exact same day.
In the case of one school, half of the teachers and the Principal donated to MAN on the same day and in the same amount. The Principal refused to answer questions referring them to the MAN party spokesperson, but some teachers tried to answer and often were unable to state how much they donated, when, how often, or where.
In a city kindergarten the Principle and many of the staff were unable to answer how much they had donated and in many cases gave incorrect figures. One employee rebuked the journalist saying that they should focus a story on how low the salaries are at the kindergarten. The journalist responded that they must be pretty good if every employee donated 3000 lei (up to 1/2 a month’s salary) to the MAN party. The man refused to answer questions about the donation.
Journalists checked public donation records against people’s recollections and found that very little matched up. In the case of a company with multiple city contracts that had a number of employees donating large amounts, the director stated that these donations were false. He said that he had not donated a single leo and noted employees on the donation list who were in the United States on the day they supposedly donated a stack of cash.
While donors to the MAN party were nearly all drawn from city departments or institutions, Shor’s Renaissance party drew most of their support from pensioners and students. One pensioner questioned by TV8 journalists about a supposed 2500 lei donation to Renaissance became indignant. He said that he had never donated to Renaissance and that he voted for PAS. In other cases companies made questionable donations that amounted to over a year’s profits.
Speaking anonymously, employees at a Shor-linked company affiliated with the airport stated that the lists are all for show but that they know if they speak up they will be fired.
Mayor Ceban refused to comment for the story, but following its publication replied writing:
“A significant part of you no longer represents free and independent media. You are political hitmen, hired for a lot of money of dubious origin. And I believe that the time has come to make amendments to the competent institutions, and I suggest that those who have been intimidated report these actions of pseudo-journalists to the prosecutor’s office. This approach is absolutely unacceptable,”
He further accused TV8 of being an organ of the PAS party and carrying out “political orders” from the party. TV8 has announced its intention to sue the mayor for attempting to intimidate journalists.
The story looked at PAS and Socialist fundraising as well without finding many issues. Both parties received the majority of their funding from the state based on their last parliamentary election results and needed to raise fewer funds from grassroots donors. PAS spokesmen stated that they welcome scrutiny in the party’s financing and called the party’s campaign the “most transparent” of the election cycle.
Mayor Ceban’s aggressive comments have been widely condemned by members of the independent press and press associations.
Analysis: What’s going on here?
Prosecutors and the Central Election Commission CEC are both conducting investigations into elements of campaign financing in the last election. But what TV8’s investigation highlights is a fairly typical trick that has been used for many years in Moldova. Parties launder money through straw donors in order to get around personal and corporate donation limits. For many years this has been so blatant and widespread amongst many parties that they have not even bothered to set up proper grass-roots fundraising efforts. What actually happened with MAN and various Shor-linked parties is a matter for prosecutors to investigate. But the key element is that so few prosecutions have succeeded in the past that there have historically been almost no consequences to flaunting election laws.
Other Political News:
The past 2 weeks have been very busy with political news, announcements and maneuvers as the year comes to a close. Here’s a rapid fire roundup of stories to watch:
The event “Celebrating European Moldova” was held at the Presidency on Sunday. Following last week’s announcement that the EU is set to begin accession negotiations with Moldova and Ukraine, President Sandu called on citizens to come to the Presidential Administration on Sunday to celebrate. The event involved music from military and youth orchestras and a speech from the President in which she said:
“Over the last three years, I think we have taken more decisive steps towards European integration than in the last 30 years. But the door to the European Union was opened for us thanks to the efforts and work of all conscientious people in this country: those who fought for the integrity and independence of Moldova, those who fought on the streets and at the ballot boxes for justice and against corruption, those who work honestly in the country or abroad,” ...
“From now on, it largely depends on us whether this path will be short or long. And I think we face two main challenges. First: to build a truly European state that cares about its citizens, that can protect them. And second: to build a truly European society, where people live in harmony, respect each other and everyone contributes to the common good,”
Moldova surpasses Romania in corruption perceptions ranking (in a good way). The European Research Center on Anti-Corruption and State Building (ERCAS) released their annual rankings which showed that Moldova moved up a number of places taking 35th overall, surpassing Romania which is ranked 41st. Moldova’s weakest scores were related to the judiciary. The report is available in English here.
The Ministry of Health announced plans to merge the Toma Ciorbe infectious disease hospital in Chisinau with the Dermatological Hospital in Codru. The ministry noted that both hospitals do similar work and that conditions at Toma Ciorbe, which was built in 1896, had fallen far behind standards. While the ministry stressed that no hospitals would be closed, the news triggered protests from hospital employees and claims that the real reason for the merger was a scheme to privatize the prime real estate that Toma Ciorbe sits on in the city center. This rumor was fueled by Renato Usatii who claimed that the government planned on giving the old building and land to the United Nations. The Minister responded by posting pictures of the hospital showing poor conditions and an aluminum bucket labeled as containing “fecal matter” on facebook saying:
“I could be ashamed of the march against the so-called fictitious privatization of the land of the Tom Chorbe Infectious Diseases Hospital. But I am definitely very ashamed of the conditions in which the medical staff of this hospital work and the conditions they offer to patients,”
Three extra-parliamentary opposition parties announce a long term partnership. Leaders from the Party of Change, Platform Dignity and Truth (DA) and the League of Cities and Communes (LOC) announced that they would nominate a single presidential candidate in 2024 and run as a common block in the 2025 parliamentary elections. All three parties are pro-European and showed moderately successful results in local elections. Party leaders avoided criticizing PAS but said that there is a need for a "healthy, pro-European alternative to the current government." They specifically cited people’s frustration with the current government and the need to transform European Integration from a PAS project into a national one.
The Church Schism continues. The “Mother of God" church in Ghidighici announced it would be defecting to the Bessarabian Metropolis with priests saying that this was not a political statement but simply the will of their parishioners. The Moldovan Metropolis announced it was suspending 6 priests in 2 churches over their defections, but would hold off on defrocking them until a later date.
Media outlets have reported on a document allegedly showing an old ruling by the Supreme Court of Justice finding Oleg Morara, husband of Minister of Justice Veronica Mihailov-Moraru, guilty of corrupt acts. The ruling supposedly shows a 2012 ruling that resulted in a fine of 10,000 lei. The Minister of Justice mostly refused to comment on issues in her personal life but noted that her husband was involved in a criminal case in 2009 before they were married. She said that he was not involved in bribery and that the case was dropped. The Minister says that these accusations are meant to smear her and that she will not address them further.
The Chisinau Court of Appeals has ruled in favor of the “Chance” party “overturning” the decision by the Emergency Commission to remove them from the election. The ruling has no immediate effect as the government will appeal to the Supreme Court of Justice. Multiple politicians criticized the decision, but none as forcefully as Prime Minister Recean who stated:
"Remember three names - Ekaterina Palanchuk, Veronica Negru and Inna Dudka. This panel of the Appeals Chamber yesterday annulled the decision of the Emergency Commission to prevent the criminal activities of criminal groups that tried to disrupt the electoral process in Moldova. These criminal groups were openly financed and supported by the Kremlin. It is important to understand that a dangerous situation is being created in which a criminal group can come to Moldova, do whatever it pleases, bribe voters, bribe judges, mock the people, and the state will not have the right to intervene and use the levers necessary to stop this criminal activities. We think differently. Therefore, the state will intervene when there is a threat to national security,"
…predictably, this drew strong rebukes from the National Association of Judges and the Superior Council of Magistracy who called this unacceptable pressure on judges and stated that they will appeal to national and International institutions to protect the “independence of the judiciary.”
MP Radu Marian announced that Parliament would hold hearings next week on the attempts being made by state institutions to recover funds stolen during the “Theft of the Billion.” Explaining the hearings he stated:
"We will discuss, in particular, the actions/inactions of government institutions after the decision of the Appeals Chamber entered into force to find the fugitive Shor guilty and return 5.2 billion lei."
Ilan Shor responded by demanding that he be allowed to testify at this event. In a recorded video message broadcast from his hideout in Israel, the fugitive oligarch offered a deal. He offered to buy 5.2 billion lei of government bonds in exchange for charges being dropped against him, saying that by investing this (stolen) money in Moldova he would be annulling the damage. It is not clear what the oligarch thinks the response to that would be, or what constituency he was trying to persuade with his very crude understanding of theft.
Defense and Security News
Here’s a rapid fire roundup of the top defense and national security stories of the week:
Police, schools and SIS have sought to calm parents worried about the anonymous threats on Telegram channels showing armed men threatening school shootings. SIS has stressed that they believe this to be a “hybrid attack” or, dis-information attack, noting that all of the photos are old and taken from around social media. The telegram channels in question have been blocked.
Putin has signed a decree simplifying the process for Moldovan’s to receive Russian citizenship. The decree waives requirements to take tests on Russian history and the constitution, and also waives the requirement to live in Russia for 5 years. Prime Minister Recean addressed the 150,000 - 200,000 Moldovans living in Russia and encouraged them not to be fooled by “an attempt to recruit cannon fodder.”
Moldova received it’s first modern air defense identification radar on December 20th. The system was purchased from France and will be able to monitor all of Moldova’s airspace. Speaking of the importance of this new kit, Minister of Defense Anatolie Nosatii stated:
“In the current regional context, the safety of our citizens is a priority. Recent incidents of violation of our country's airspace have focused the authorities' attention on the urgent need to strengthen Moldova's defense capabilities. This system will monitor the entire airspace of the country and will complement the measures taken to equip the National Army in accordance with international standards. In this regard, I would like to thank the country’s leadership for the attention paid to the defense sector, and our external partners, including France, for their support in achieving this goal,”
Economic News
The most pressing economic news of the week was a fairly bleak annual report on the Moldovan economy from the think tank “Expert Grup.” Here are some key takeaways from the study:
GDP growth in 2023 is forecasted to be 3.3% annual. In 2024 it is expected to decrease to 2.6% growth. The study noted that most growth in 2023 was a result of the recovery of the agricultural sector from the drought in 2022 and that without this recovery the economy appears to be in stagnation.
In 2023 absolute poverty rose from 24.5% to 31.1%. Absolute poverty is defined as monthly income below the subsistence level of 2942 lei ($168). 17.1% of people in urban settings and 40.3% of people in rural settings qualify as impoverished.
Labor productivity in Moldova is two times lower than Central and Eastern European averages.
Labor shortfalls are projected to increase. In 2023 the labor shortage was 8%, this is expected to rise to between 18% and 26% in 2026 with between 770,000 and 832,000 working persons per million jobs. The study notes the difficulty in projecting this number due to uncertainty about the war, but notes that many workers are expected to take jobs in reconstruction in Ukraine once the war finishes.
Banks are not loaning money. The banking system is well capitalized and has liquidity amounting to 40 billion lei on hand. They are making high profits but are resisting commercial lending. The report called this situation “stable, but non-productive.”
In happier news Moldovans should be getting some exciting new travel options in 2024. Airline Georgian Wings has announced that starting in February they will be running flights between Chisinau and Tiblisi twice a week starting at 89 euros. Meanwhile, Moldovan-Romanian airline HighSky announced that they have received permission to operate direct flights to the United States - though no flights have been announced as of yet.
Also regarding the airport, Minister of Infrastructure Andrei Spinu announced that starting January 18th the Chisinau airport would change its short code from KIV to RMO. The old code KIV was derived from the Russian spelling of Chisinau and the new code is derived from “Republic of Moldova.” The Minister thanked the public for sending in suggestions including "CHI, CIA, CIU, RMD, MDA" but noted that they were all already taken.
…if you’re curious, CIA is Ciampino airport in Italy.
That’s it for this Week's Roundup from Moldova Matters. Merry Christmas for those who celebrate “new style!” We’ll be back next week for a final article of 2023 and a look ahead to 2024!