According to Moldreturo members (companies Kaufland, Moldretail Group, 47th Parallel, Business Market, Brodetchi, Coca-Cola Îmbuteliere Chișinău and Forward International), the winner of the competition, the Eco-Ret Association, was formed by too narrow a group of participants and does not reflect the entire market structure. It included a limited number of companies, with a significant part of retailers and producers remaining outside the process.
Note that the SDA system is given into single hands. The administrator has to oversee the whole system, which will be implemented and funded by the whole drinks industry, and the cost is by no means small – €20 million. The commission (based at the Ministry of the Environment) had to choose more than just the best: the competing association had to cover 3/5 of the market for drinks falling under the SDA that were in circulation in 2024. In the end, Eco-Ret Moldova was chosen. However, the legitimacy of this choice is questionable: all materials on the turnover of Eco-Ret members are still classified.
In their petition to the government, Moldreturo members asked for the administrative act of the commission, the evaluation criteria, the detailed methodology of scoring and the analysis based on which it was established that the criterion of 3/5 market coverage was met. Without these documents, it is impossible to understand whether the procedure was really transparent and impartial. No one has ever received an answer.
The case of Coca-Cola Îmbuteliere Chișinău also reinforces suspicions. According to its representatives, the company analyzed the projects of both Eco-Ret Moldova and Moldreturo and concluded that Moldreturo’s dossier was more professional and had a clearer vision about the launch of the SDA system. That is why Coca-Cola officially notified the previous partners and the state commission that it had decided to participate in the tender with Moldreturo. Moreover, the company officially forbade the use of its market data as part of another dossier. But this requirement was not fulfilled: the opponents used Coca-Cola’s statistics on market coverage and confirmed this fact. The question arises: if these volumes were taken into account when confirming the criterion of 3/5 of the market, it calls into question the correctness of passing the key condition of the competition.
According to Moldreturo Association, the difference between the two dossiers was also in the way the market volumes were presented. In the case of Moldreturo, the companies presented individual data on the volumes placed on the market – for each company separately. In the case of Eco-Ret, the figures were presented in total volume, by industry, without individualization by company. In such a situation, the commission could not fully verify the reliability and sufficiency of these data.
Operators emphasize: they have not found on official resources neither minutes of the commission meetings, nor detailed methodology of evaluation, nor justification of the decision. Therefore, they repeatedly asked for the act of the commission with the motives, evaluation criteria and methodology of scoring. To no avail!
We would like to remind you that Logos Press addressed the same question to the Ministry of Environment. The request was sent to Grigora Stratulat, State Secretary of the Ministry of Environment, asking him to comment: what was the mechanism for calculating the coverage of 3/5 of the market for Eco-Ret. And would Eco-Ret have been able to cover such a share without taking into account the market volumes of Coca-Cola?
The Secretary of State confirmed that the process was confidential. Thus, the mechanism for calculating Eco-Ret’s share was based on an internal procedure involving independent consultants and classified processing of manufacturers’ data. According to him, companies provided consultants with information about their volumes, after which the data were aggregated and submitted to the commission for analysis and verification, but without disclosure of individual indicators between market participants. That is, the benchmark of 3/5 market coverage was determined on the basis of aggregate volumes. However, the specific shares of individual producers within this model are not disclosed.
As a result, the suspicions of operators have only increased. The business insists on revising the approach – from a closed administrative decision to an open process in which all participants understand the rules of the game and can verify the results.
That is why Moldreturo association asks the authorities to suspend the decision to appoint the SDA administrator until the procedural and controversial issues are fully clarified. They emphasize: SDA is not only an environmental tool, but also a complex market of interaction between business and the state. Not only the launch of the new system, but also business confidence in further reforms within the framework of Moldova’s European integration depends on whether the state will be able to ensure transparency and revise controversial decisions.
