US Ambassador Recommends Moldova to Intensify Anti-Corruption Fight
December 14, 200514.12.2005 (BASA-general)
Moldova has registered some progress but it still has a lot of work to do, Heather M. Hodges, U.S. ambassador to Moldova, told a meeting with students from the State University on Wednesday.
She presented the essence of the Millennium Challenge Account, in which Moldova was included for the first time, and noted that though Chisinau has registered performances for almost all indicators for selection of candidates who will participate in this program, it fails in continuation the commitment to combat the corruption, in order to be included in the entire assistance program.
The U.S. diplomat cited experts of the World Bank and Transparency International who have established that corruption and its perception in Moldova is widely spread and it affects all social layers. Although she fell short of revealing concrete cases, Hodges said that there are few cases when corrupt officials were investigated under Penal Code and very few of them were sentenced.
The U.S. official indicated among progresses the implementation of regulation reform, especially of the "guillotine law", reformation of customs service and police, and adoption of the National Anti-Corruption Strategy and Plan. She noted that these reforms start bringing results while the corruption perception index of Transparency International rose suddenly from 2.3 up to 2.9 and this is the highest score in the CIS.
Also, Moldova should focus on anti-corruption struggle while drafting the project for the Preliminary Millennium Challenge Account Program in order to succeed to the entire assistance program of the Millennium Challenge Account Fund. It must establish ethic conduct standards. Heads of the government, parliament, big companies and NGOs must clearly show to their subordinates that they will not tolerate the corruption. Also, Moldova must ensure the access to information and create a free and independent mass media. In the context, Hodges spoke about independence of justice.
The Board of the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) Program of the U.S. government decided this year to include Moldova in the special preliminary project of this program. The preliminary project of MCA was recently worked out for states willing to obtain funds within MCA and it calls for granting of a substantial volume of financing to different sectors, aimed to fulfill all eligibility criteria.
MCA was created in 2004 to assist developing states. Five assistance agreements worth 900 million dollars have been signed within MCA until now. The money is allocated as assistance to states which comply with at least half of 16 necessary indicators. The criteria for selection envisage fair governing, investments in people, encouragement of economic freedom and anti-corruption fight.
(The entire speech may be accessed here)
