With a score of 34, the Republic of Moldova ranks 115th out of 180 countries and territories in the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 2020 that was released by Transparency International (TI). The Republic of Moldova climbed five spots compared with 2019, when it came 120th. The index, which ranks 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public sector corruption according to experts and businesspeople, uses a scale of zero to 100, where zero is highly corrupt and 100 is very clean, IPN reports.
Among Moldova’s neighbors in the rankings are the Philippines (34), Egypt (33), Panama (35), North Macedonia (35), and Bosnia (35). Romania has a score of 44, Estonia of 74, Lithuania of 60, while Latvia of 57.
Transparency International Moldova said that from the viewpoint of corruption fighting, 2020 for Moldova was very controversial. On the one hand, the country overcame the state capture. On the other hand, the new rulers undertook some of the criminal schemes, while Parliament offered the people a surprise on Christmas, adopting a package of laws that run counter to the public interest. These laws were aimed at hampering the NIA in its activity, taking over control over the SIS and at attempting to restore the concessions for duty-free shops.
Only half of the actions stipulated in the action plan for implementing the National Integrity and Anticorruption Strategy were fully carried out, but what is not completed cannot produce results, noted Transparency International Moldova.
Of the 18 recommendations formulated in the GRECO’s Fourth Evaluation Round that dealt with corruption prevention in respect of Members of Parliament, judges and prosecutors, only four were fully implemented. The situation is even worse with regard to the holding accountable of the final beneficiaries of the banking fraud. In 2020, an attempt was made to modify the notion of final beneficiaries itself, compromising again the whole process of recovering the stolen funds.
In a press release, Transparency International Moldova notes that owing to a stratagem employed by ex-President Igor Dodon, the Republic of Moldova was close to falling into a financial trap by signing an agreement to lend US$200 million from the Russian Federation. The multiple scandals over the “bags with money”, the studies of children of high-ranking officials paid by private companies or individuals, Vladimir Plahotniuc’s unhampered trips around Moldova reduced the population’s trust in the officials’ wish to improve the situation. Stricken by COVID-19, poverty and the uncertainty of tomorrow, the population started to more actively oppose this system, demanding snap parliamentary elections and actions from the new President of the Republic of Moldova Maia Sandu.
The CPI is a composite index, a combination of 13 surveys and assessments of corruption, collected by a variety of reputable institutions. The CPI is topped by Denmark and New Zealand, both with a score of 88. Syria, Somalia and South Sudan come last with 14, 12 and 12 points.
