Moldova will pay 54 million lei from the state budget in 2025 for membership fees in 59 international organizations to which it belongs, writes Free Europe, IPN reports.

According to the source, membership fees in 16 out of 59 organizations exceed one million lei. Moldova will pay the highest membership fee of more than 10.5 million lei to the Council of Europe (CoE), of which it has been a member since 1995.

The Ministry of Finance has prepared a draft government decision which is at the public consultation stage until January 6, 2025. In the explanatory memorandum of the draft, the ministry explained that "honoring the financial commitments towards the organizations Moldova is a member of will contribute to promoting the country's image as a credible partner and will help Chisinau achieve its international priority policies".

Membership dues are paid annually. Compared to this year, for next year the authorities estimate dues to be 2.5 million lei lower, with the total amount of payments roughly at the level of 2023.

Since last year, Moldova has stopped paying membership dues to the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and other CIS-affiliated organizations, following the Russian Federation's termination of membership and banking sanctions after the invasion of Ukraine. The decision has saved Chisinau more than 8.2 million lei.