Martha Kos
“Although most of the changes that are planned to be implemented in the process of preparation for Moldova’s accession to the EU concern local authorities, so far local administrations have remained aloof from the process itself,” said Violetta Crudu, mayor of Cruzesti municipality, Chisinau municipality, vice-chair of CALM on the sidelines of the conference “Enlargement Report 2025: successes and future priorities of the Republic of Moldova”, which took place on November 11 in the capital.
At the conference, the community of mayors was hardly represented by speeches, but only by an impressive presence. Although Moldova is about 1000 localities living a separate life, and they are the ones closest to the citizens and could be the guides of their expectations, the representatives of local authorities said.
In this context, European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos’ speech at the conference sounded a direct recommendation to the new authorities. “The development of a country starts with the empowerment of local communities,” she emphasized. – With the ability of local authorities to effectively manage their needs. And decentralization is one of the basic elements of a nation’s development. It is crucial to empower local communities to manage spheres and services that the central level is not fully coping with. No one knows better than mayors and local administrations what is happening on the ground”.
The commissioner said that an efficient decentralization process contributes to better governance, greater accountability of authorities and stronger links between institutions and citizens, stressing that the EU will continue to support Moldova on the path of institutional consolidation.
“The new Moldovan government announced the launch of a reform on the modernization of local public administration, aimed at strengthening the financial autonomy of the mayoralties and improving the quality of public services,” Marta Cos also said. – The reform envisages a more efficient distribution of powers between the central and local levels, transparent management of resources and digitalization of processes. Through decentralization, the government aims to make local authorities key players in the implementation of European community policy.”
“The law on the voluntary merger of mayoralties has long been adopted and the process itself is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2026, but I cannot answer my fellow citizens’ question about the future of the commune and the mayoralties. We believe that this law is not being promoted sufficiently. We still don’t know what the authorities’ plan is. We are told that there is one, but we have not seen it a year before the end of the unification process, and this is wrong. Therefore, we are looking forward to consultations with the new secretary general of the government, Alexei Buzu, on these issues,” Violeta Crudu said.
“We are not ignored, but it is difficult to dialog,” said Alexandru Petkov, the mayor of Balti. – Although without progress at the local level there will be no progress at the national level. Especially in terms of the utilization of almost two billion euros, part of which has been granted to Moldova for the implementation of projects at the local level. In order to use these funds, it is necessary to eliminate bureaucracy, first of all, in the procurement procedure. The second problem is the payment of the specialists we attract to such projects. It is much more profitable for them to work in commercial structures, where they are paid more. And the legislative framework is set in such a way that we cannot recruit the right people to the City Hall. At the same time, the government has found ways to adequately pay for participation in such projects.
– There are also problems with design specialists. There are only a few of them for the whole country,” says Mayor Balti. – There are designers in Ukraine or Romania. But by law, they must be authorized in Moldova. It is equally difficult to find a company that will asphalt the road. At the same time, I can’t involve a foreign company either. I have to get on the waiting list.
“Now there is a lot of talk about two billion euros and projects,” Nicolae Dandis, the mayor of Cahul municipality, joins the conversation. – At the same time, there are many examples when a lot of money and efforts have been invested in such projects, and their implementation is slowed down, people are disappointed. Therefore, it is necessary to optimize and simplify the procedure of public procurement. In some EU countries it is possible to announce a tender for public procurement without a final contract on project financing. This is not possible in our country. As long as there is no document on the sources of funding, it is impossible to hold a tender. And this takes a lot of time. Therefore, I believe that it is necessary to make a corresponding change in the legislation on public procurement.
In addition, it is necessary to intensify the process of land registration and delimitation, says Dundish. “Because of the delay, a project may lose funding, so we need to give priority to project participants,” he continues. – In Moldova, there are educational institutions that offer optional training in project preparation and management, including financial management. But we believe that it is necessary to include such programs in mandatory university curricula. As for our involvement in the European integration processes, I would point out that a new team is at the helm today. Some of them already have management experience, so we hope that together they will be able to improve the dialog between the central and local authorities. It is necessary to make direct contact more often in the interests of both sides”.
