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Moldovan Elections: still between State Capture vs. Russian Influence

Author(s): Denis Cenuşă / Language(s): English

Less than 1.5 million citizens voted to renew the legislative body of Moldova. This is only 49% of total number of voters or about 200.000 fewer votes compared to 2014. Neither the populist policies introduced by the government in 2018, nor the consultative referendum on reducing the size of the parliament that took place concomitantly with the elections, had much impact on stimulating higher participation.

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KROLL Investigation: Between Expectations and Reality

Author(s): Eugen Ghilețchi / Language(s): English

In 2014, the domestic banking system was shaken by one of the biggest internal crises in our country's history. The bank fraud that resulted in the theft accounting for 12 per cent of the GDP was the consequence of flawed corporate governance in some banks, of dysfunctions and lack of coordination among state institutions, including the ones in charge of ensuring financial stability, as well as the consequence of ill-intentioned decision-makers in state institutions and banks1. In almost 3 years after the crisis, the authorities recovered around MDL 963 million from selling the assets of the three banks, while Kroll Company, contracted to conduct an investigation and support the authorities in recovering the stolen money, detected committed crimes that together add up to around USD 600 million2. // Currently, the only solution that could actually lessen the burden on citizens is to follow the missing money and to recover it to the possible extent. Taking into account the complexity of schemes used by crooks in bank frauds, the full recovery of the assets is virtually impossible in such situations. International experts believe that retrieving even 50 per cent of the lost money in such cases is an achievement.

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Draft Law on Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism – Source of Economic Stability or Instability?

Author(s): Sergiu Gaibu / Language(s): English

The aim of this note is to provide recommendations on improvement of the draft law as well as of the certain elements of mechanisms present in Moldova on preventing and combating money laundering, so that to protect the fundamental rights, proper functioning of the business environment and to preserve a rational approach to prevention and combating the money laundering phenomenon. It is vitally important to understand the general context and the role of prevention and combating money laundering in such context. The primary goal of modern societies and states is to eradicate organized crime, drug trafficking, human trafficking, organ trafficking and illegal arms trafficking. In this context the international community developed services to identify and fight these crimes. Once the technologies were developed and the financial flows enhanced, it became obvious that the criminals’ ultimate goal is to bring the enormous income back into the legal ‘white’ circulation. And after realizing this fact, the combating of money laundering was organized and the money laundering activity was incriminated to attack the results of illegal activity.

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Soluții pentru mobilizarea resurselor interne pentru proiecte infrastructurale și dezvoltarea țării: Piața Valorilor Mobiliare de Stat

Author(s): Dumitru Pîntea,Eugen Ghilețchi,Sergiu Gaibu / Language(s): Romanian

The concept of development and liberalization of the state securities market derives from the need to boost the development process of the capital market and the national financial system as a whole. As a result of the frauds registered in the banking sector, the reformation of the financial system becomes imminent, and the rehabilitation and recovery process is announced to be long and will gradually include all its components and sectors. Thus, although at the moment the reform process is focused especially on the banking environment, special attention and a sustained involvement of efforts must also be given to the capital market, or there are solid premises for this sector to become an important element of the financial intermediation mechanism, but also a factor for diluting the risks and vulnerabilities present and revealed by the banking sector.

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Despre cum se pierd banii publici: Sinteza rapoartelor Curții de Conturi, Semestrul I 2017

Author(s): Tatiana Savva / Language(s): Romanian

Two decisions out of the 10 published, concerned the way in which the institutions previously referred to in the audit reports implemented the recommendations submitted: the Agency for Interventions and Payments in Agriculture on the subject of the subsidies granted and the Ministry of Internal Affairs on the subject of real progress and prospects for the automation of processes in the field internal affairs. // This study, in turn, comes to present the synthesis of the main findings from the reports of the Court of Accounts on four themes: the way in which the money from the Mandatory Medical Assistance Insurance Funds is spent, how correctly the money from this fund was spent by the National House of Social Security, how the money was spent to restructure the wine sector and how well the National Food Safety Agency and its subordinate institutions manage the financial resources and assets under management.

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Final Monitoring Report on the Implementation of the Priority Reform Action Roadmap (5 July - 31 December 2017)

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English

The Final Report on the Implementation of the Roadmap provides an independent evaluation of the implementation of Roadmap provisions for the entire period set in the document, 5 July – 31 December 2017. The document covers eight policy areas, with a summary of developments for each of the actions, comments on the main concerns and achievements, and a list of relevant policy recommendations. // The implementation of the Priority Reform Action Roadmap was evaluated on the basis of a methodology focused both on the assessment of timeline and quality of the implemented actions. Given that deadlines for a number of actions included in the Roadmap were rather tight, and therefore were often missed, the evaluation of progress was focused on the quality of acts adopted/measures taken and their potential impact (Annex). // This document represents the final assessment report on the Roadmap implementation, which is based on updating the interim assessment report published on 1 December 2017.

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Republica Moldova - studiu de caz al noilor scheme de spălare a banilor. Lecții de învățat și consecinţe pentru UE

Author(s): Sergiu Gaibu,Andres Knobel / Language(s): Romanian

The evolution and proliferation of new forms of terrorism, organized crime, intrusion and information warfare generate new money laundering schemes to finance these types of activities. Their purpose is to avoid anti-money laundering mechanisms created through a joint international effort. Money laundering is essentially an international phenomenon, so it is extremely important that regulations and prevention measures are developed and implemented in all countries. This approach is particularly relevant for the European Union (EU), where all new developments, including the fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive and the legislative framework for the automatic exchange of information, can be undermined if neighboring countries fall behind.

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Evaluarea impactului corupției asupra bunei guvernări a municipiului Chișinău

Author(s): Dumitru Budianschi / Language(s): Romanian

The Independent Analytic Center "Expert-Group" carried out this Study on the basis of the service provision contract, concluded with the United Nations Development Program, within the Project "Strengthening the capacities of the National Anti-Corruption Center to exercise the functions of prevention and analysis of corruption", implemented by UNDP Moldova, with the financial support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Norway. The main purpose of the Study is the comprehensive assessment of the impact of corruption on the good governance of the Chisinau Municipality and the formulation of a set of recommendations to prevent corruption and reduce its incidence in the Capital City Hall.

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Corruption Perception Index 2019: Thinking about Ukraine

Author(s): Igor Burakovsky / Language(s): English

According to new Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 2019 published by Transparency International, Ukraine scored 30 points out of 100. It means that Ukraine gone back to the level of 2017 and now ranks 126th out of 180 countries alongside Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan and Djibouti. These results are more or less consistent with the domestic perception that during last two years the “internal anti-corruption drive” has significantly lost its momentum. It took a lot of time and efforts to create the system of special anti-corruption agencies such as National Anticorruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU), the National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP), Specialized Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) and High Anticorruption Court. However, their failure to act efficiently prompted the necessity to “re-launch” this system. The new Parliament rapidly adopted new laws on the NACP and the State Investigation Bureau. Even in a best-case scenario, these re-launched anti-corruption bodies will still need two-to-three years for fine-tuning to become up and running at full capacity, and for their political independence to be effectively preserved.

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NATIONAL PAR-MONITOR 2021/2022: Bosnia and Herzegovina

Author(s): Haris Ćutahija / Language(s): English

The PAR Monitor 2021/2022 is the result of monitoring work performed in 2021/2022 by the members of the Think for Europe Network, and it represents a compilation report of key findings from across the Western Balkans in the six areas of PAR defined by the Principles of Public Administration (SIGMA principles). As the third systematic PAR monitoring done in the region by civil society, this report offers not only comparisons between Western Balkan (WB) administrations, but also comparison with the baseline PAR Monitor findings of the the 2017/2018 and 2019/2020 monitoring cycle.

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NATIONAL PAR-MONITOR 2021/2022: North-Macedonia

Author(s): Juliana Karai,Angel Mojsovski / Language(s): English

The National PAR Monitor for North Macedonia 2021/2022 is the result of the monitoring carried out in 2021 and 2022 by the EPI team and shows the key findings of the six areas of RDA defined by the principles of public administration (SIGMA principles). It is the third systematic monitoring of the RJA conducted in the region by civil society, which offers not only comparisons between the administrations of the Western Balkans (WB) but also a comparison with the basic findings of the RJA monitor from 2017/2018 and 2019/2020 . The RJA Monitor reports are based on a comprehensive methodological framework designed by the WeBER research team, which combines quantitative and qualitative sources of evidence. With the SIGMA principles as the basis of monitoring, the reports are complementary to similar work by SIGMA/OECD and the European Commission, and differ in that they offer citizens and civil society perspectives on these principles. Along with this comparative regional report, the RJA Monitor package consists of six national reports with findings on a total of 23 complex indicators for monitoring selected SIGMA principles.

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NATIONAL PAR-MONITOR 2021/2022: Montenegro

Author(s): Ana Đurnić,Marko Šošić,Dragana Jaćimović / Language(s): English

When it comes to overseeing the implementation of the PAR Strategy and participation of CSOs, administrative structure for PAR coordination In Montenegro does not include representatives of CSOs, while the political level PAR Council does. Formal conditions of the Council’s work are commendable, particular compared to similar bodies in the region. However, the role and impact of the Council on the key PAR processes as well as its substantial contribution to the documents it discusses is assessed as negligible and it only held three sessions in two years.

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NATIONAL PAR-MONITOR 2021/2022: Serbia

Author(s): Milica Divljak,Milica Škorić,Sava Mitrović / Language(s): English

Public administration reform (PAR), as an integral part of the first cluster, is one of the fundamental conditions on the way to the EU membership. In the Western Balkans region, this reform has been assessed for years through the lenses of the SIGMA Principles of Public Administration, developed by OECD/SIGMA and endorsed by the EU. These Principles define what makes a well-functioning administration in terms of its ability to deliver transparent, efficient and effective services to citizens and to support socio-economic development. In the context of high external pressure for tangible developments in PAR, homegrown demand for better administration becomes even more important to keep pressuring the government to pursue reforms once the external conditionality dissipates as a result of a completed EU accession process. Civil society actors, with local knowledge of the administration’s functioning, can lead such domestic advocacy efforts aimed at better administration. Independent PAR monitoring and evidence-based dialogue with the government represent a good approach to achieving this goal.

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NATIONAL PAR-MONITOR 2019/2020: Albania

Author(s): Alban Dafa / Language(s): English

The report presents the results of monitoring work performed during February 2020 – December 2020 by the IDM research team. The methodological framework designed by the WeBER research team during the previous monitoring cycle (2017/2018) combines quantitative and qualitative sources of evidence. With the SIGMA principles as the building blocks of our monitoring work, this report – as well as the other national reports produced by our colleagues in the region – are complementary to similar work conducted by SIGMA/OECD and the European Commission. A crucial point of difference is this report seeks to highlight the civil society perspective on PAR implementation by assessing mainly SIGMA principles and indicators that measure civil society and the wider public perceptions on key issues such as transparency, accountability, and inclusiveness in policymaking.

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NATIONAL PAR-MONITOR 2019/2020: Bosnia and Herzegovina

Author(s): Anida Šabanović,Haris Ćutahija / Language(s): English

In the context of high external pressure for tangible developments in PAR, homegrown demand for better administration becomes even more important to keep pressuring the government to pursue reforms once the external conditionality dissipates as a result of a completed EU accession process. Civil society actors, with local knowledge of the administration’s functioning, can lead such domestic advocacy efforts aimed at better administration. Independent PAR monitoring and evidence-based dialogue with the government represent a good approach to achieve this goal.

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MACEDONIA’S PUBLIC SECRET: How Corruption drags the Country down. (ICG Balkans Report N°133)

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English

Although this report contains specific examples, it has been written with care to respect the rights of individuals. ICG is prepared, however, to discuss a number of these matters in greater detail if requested to do so by appropriate, duly authorised governmental and legislative bodies. Also, while this report deals with the present and recent past and so may seem to concentrate on the parties now in power, corruption is an aspect of the country’s political culture, not the exclusive preserve of any particular group. For an attack on it to be effective, all political parties need to join in the effort, along with civil society and the international donor community. Corruption is emphatically not an issue that belongs to or should be misused for partisan political purposes, and it would be a major mistake to believe that a change of government after the September 2002 elections will automatically sweep away the problem.

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Политически брифинг № 76 на CSD: Управление на обезпечени и отнети активи в България

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): Bulgarian

Civil forfeiture of illegally acquired assets is one of the most important tools in the fight against crime. Forfeiture is used by state authorities to strip criminals of their illicit proceeds, thereby preventing them from expanding illegal activities and reinvesting their proceeds into the legal economy. A secondary benefit of forfeiture is that forfeited property, or the proceeds of its sale, may be used to provide specialised services for the benefit of victims of crime. Moreover, the social re-use of forfeited criminal assets, which are transferred to local municipal authorities or non-governmental organizations, may serve as setting a public example for crime groups and is key in achieving transparency in the fight against crime.

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CSD Policy Brief No. 85: The Kremlin Playbook: Тhe Movie.

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English

The Kremlin Playbook 2: The Enablers revealed how Russia has developed and sustained state capture networks in Europe to enable the expansion of its economic and political influence. // Austria has been one of the most vulnerable countries in Europe. Russia has increased its economic footprint in the country significantly over the last decade. Russian entities have rechanneled billions of euro in Russia-owned banks in Austria. The latter received an exemption from the European sanctions to continue operating within the Eurozone system and facilitate loans and deposit operations involving Russian entities.

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Политически брифинг № 91 на CSD: Корупционният натиск и незаконният пазар на тютюневи изделия – движещи фактори и тенденции

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): Bulgarian

Surveys of organised crime related to the illicit tobacco market in Bulgaria, conducted over the last 20 years, show an extremely intensive use of various corruptive practices at all levels of illicit trade. The record low level achieved at the end of 2019 - 3.3% according to the EPS, gave rise to a discussion regarding the risks of the market for illegal tobacco products growing again. // Expert estimates stipulate that unless there is an extremely dramatic change in taxation policy similar to these in 2006 or the 2009-2010 period, no significant shocks should be expected. The current analysis shows that criminal networks still active in the illicit trade in tobacco products have almost been completely destroyed at all levels. The fragmented residues that are still functioning do not have the capacity for significant expansion. In addition, market research shows that there has been a radical change in the attitude of Bulgarian consumers who have lost their habit of intensively searching for illegal tobacco products.

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CSD Policy Brief No. 97: The Chinese Economic Footprint in Central and Eastern Europe. Impact on Energy Transition and Climate.

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English

In the past decade China has launched and promoted its first global infrastructure and economic development platform – the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). It seeks to link China with Europe and countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Pacific. The BRI binds the countries along its way in large-scale China-financed infrastructure projects, which enhance China’s economic and political leverage. Around USD 14 billion in Chinese funds have entered the Central and Eastern European region in the form of grants, development loans, mergers and acquisition of domestic assets and concession agreements. To expand its economic influence in CEE, China has exploited a number of domestic governance deficits including lack of transparency of intergovernmental agreements, circumvention of national competition and public procurement law, and inconsistency with EU objectives. // The Policy Brief makes a comprehensive overview of the different patterns of Chinese economic influence. It measures the main indicators for the Chinese economic footprint in 12 CEE countries. The brief zooms in on the impact of Chinese investments on the overall quality of climate policies as well as provides targeted policy measures on countering the malign aspects of the Chinese economic presence.

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