This Anti-Corruption Helpdesk brief was produced in response to a query from a U4 Partner Agency. The U4 Helpdesk is operated by Transparency International in collaboration with the U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre based at the Chr. Michelsen Institute.
Query
Please provide an overview of corruption and anti-corruption efforts in Moldova with a focus on the healthcare and procurement sectors.
Content
- Overview of corruption in Moldova
- Legal and institutional framework
- References
Summary
The Republic of Moldova, a landlocked country in South East Europe, gained its independence with the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. Its troubled transition to democracy and a market economy has been accompanied by political tension between pro-Western and pro-Russian factions, as well as a dependency on remittances. All this has created a conducive environment for corrupt practices to thrive (Chayes 2016).
Surveys and anecdotal evidence suggest that corruption in the country appears to be becoming more engrained in politics and society, affecting the quality of life for ordinary Moldovans. In particular, the consolidation of an oligarchic elite’s position at the reins of the state apparatus is seen to have fuelled corruption in politics, business and public administration. An example of the country’s problem with grand corruption was provided by the 2014 banking scandal, which led to the imprisonment of the former prime minister and precipitated an economic crisis.
While substantive legislative reforms have been undertaken, serious political commitment to their implementation is required to tackle the endemic forms of corruption that exist in various sectors – including healthcare, procurement, judiciary and law enforcement. This paper also considers the role of external partners in Moldova’s anticorruption efforts.
Authors
Kaunain Rahman, [email protected]
Reviewers
Lilia Carasciuc, Transparency International Moldova and Matthew Jenkins, Transparency International
Date
05/04/2018
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