Information on the names of Moldovan company founders has become public and free. The governmental portal www.date.gov.md currently contains information on roughly 200,000 companies. Previously the information was available for a charge, IPN reports.

Making such data public and free is an anti-corruption measure that is necessary and important for creating a transparent and safe business environment, the Prime Minister's Economic Council has said in a press release. It is expected that the measure will help to limit influence peddling and prevent corruption, while also increasing trust among entrepreneurs.

Currently the data is available in a simple Excel file which will be updated on a monthly basis. In the future, the information will be integrated into a digital register with a user-friendly interface.

The decision to make founder names public comes in response to numerous requests from the Economic Council as well as from the business community, civil society and mass media. A number of business associations, NGOs and media organizations signed a common statement requesting more transparency from the government in disclosing the founders of companies based in Moldova to show that the legislation genuinely works in our country.