Favoritism will be punished with fines of up to 6,000 lei

The functionaries and employees of public institutions will be liable to fines of 1,000 to 6,000 lei for favoritism. The Government approved relevant amendments to the Code of Administrative Offenses at its August 10 meeting, Info-Prim Neo reports. Penalties will be imposed for hiding conflicts of interest and acts of corruption. “Moldova does not yet have appropriate legislation and does not have clear rules that would favor the reporting by civil servants of cases of corruption. After foreign experts assessed how Moldova implements the international conventions on the prevention and combating of corruption, they recommended removing this shortcoming,” said Viorel Chetraru, the head of the Center for Combating Corruption and Economic Crime. Other amendments to the Code of Administrative Offenses are aimed at making the companies more responsible, limiting the contraband goods' access to the country, preventing money laundering and illegal trading in goods. Thus, the punishment for smuggling raw material and goods into Moldova will be 2,000 to 3,000 lei for private individuals and 6,000 to 10,000 lei for legal entities. The same fine will be put for presenting incomplete and wrong information about suspect transactions. The National Agency for the Protection of Competition will have the right to establish offenses concerning the protection of competition and advertising. For instance, the production or broadcasting of dishonest, inauthentic or immoral commercials by companies will be punished with a fine of 600 to 3,000 lei for private individuals and of 8,000 to 10,000 lei for legal entities.