At the center of this story are two associations and two approaches to the creation of the SDA. On one side was Eco-Ret Moldova, which included mainly beer and soft drinks producers. On the other side was Moldreturo, joined by large retail chains and beverage importers. Both structures participated in the contest. The commission (based at the Ministry of Environment) had to choose more than just the best: the competing association had to cover 3/5 of the market of drinks covered by the SDA, which were in circulation in 2024. In the end, Eco-Ret Moldova was chosen. According to the government’s draft decision, it should be appointed as the administrator of the SDA.
Moldreturo does not agree with this. Its members, represented by the companies Kaufland, Moldretail Group, 47th Parallel, Business Market, Brodetchi, Coca-Cola Îmbuteliere Chișinău and Forward International, petitioned the authorities, stating that the decision was taken in violation of the principles of transparency, fairness and compliance with the regulatory framework. The companies emphasize: they are not against the SDA itself. What is disputed is not the purpose of the reform, but the way in which the state chooses the operator of the future system.
As Kaufland Moldova noted, the Eco-Ret Association was formed by too narrow a circle of participants and does not reflect the entire market structure. It is impossible to build a working national system with the participation of a limited number of companies when a significant part of retailers and producers remain outside the process.
“Kaufland, which acts as both manufacturer and retailer, tried to join the manufacturers’ association even at the start, but was rejected. We also tried to get into Eco-Ret Moldova through the Local Retail Alliance retailers’ association, but we could not reach a common denominator. It was claimed that only Local Retail Alliance would represent all retailers in Eco-Ret. That is, the main problem with the proposed model is the exclusion of a significant part of retail from the decision-making process. No conditions were created so that Moldreturo, which owns more than 50% of the retail market, could join Eco-Ret. At the same time, additional rights were granted only to producers who had made investments. Retail was not taken into account.”
For SDA, this is not an afterthought. It is the stores that will handle the flow of customers, handle deposits, place taromats to accept packaging, and provide the daily link between the consumer, the producer, and the system administrator.
“Ultimately, it is the retailer who will be implementing this system, so it should be an active participant, not a nominal one,” Kaufland notes. – Retail is not the technical implementer here, but the point where environmental policy becomes a service to the customer. An error in the system architecture will be visible immediately – in queues, failures, consumer dissatisfaction and additional business expenses”.
Kaufland also emphasizes that retailers’ willingness to participate in the system is not declarative. The company is ready to consider investments, including the purchase of its own machines for accepting packaging. But this requires clear rules. That is, the business does not refuse to spend, but wants to know who makes decisions, how responsibilities are distributed, how tariffs will be calculated, what will happen to the networks’ own equipment, and how to protect retailers from disproportionate burdens.
The key issue is the criterion of covering 3/5 of the market
The condition to cover 3/5 of the total volume of drinks on the market has become a central point of conflict. Merchants point out that EU countries with deposit systems already in place, including Germany, Lithuania, Romania, Estonia, Germany, Lithuania, Romania and Slovakia, do not have such a criterion when selecting an administrator. European models, they argue, are based on an assessment of other criteria – operational capacity, efficiency and financial stability.
In our case, a certain barrier is created, which may limit competition and turn the tender into a procedure accessible only to a narrow circle of large participants.
In their petition, Moldreturo members explicitly ask for the administrative act of the commission, the evaluation criteria, the detailed methodology of scoring and the analysis on the basis of which the fulfillment of the criterion of covering 3/5 of the market was established. Without these documents, it is impossible to understand whether the procedure was really transparent and impartial.
Coca-Cola’s position: the data was used incorrectly
Of particular importance in the dispute is the position of Coca-Cola Îmbuteliere Chișinău. According to its representatives, the company analyzed the projects of both Eco-Ret Moldova and Moldreturo and concluded that Moldreturo’s dossier was much better prepared, better structured 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 competition with Moldreturo. Moreover, we officially prohibited the use of the company’s market data as part of another dossier. This is a point of principle. However, our requirement was not fulfilled: the opponents used Coca-Cola 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 selection condition,” the company notes.
According to Coca-Cola Îmbuteliere Chișinău, the difference between the two dossiers was also in the way the market volumes were presented. In the case of Moldreturo, the companies confirmed participation and presented individual data on the volumes placed on the market. In the case of Eco-Ret, the data were presented in total volume, by industry, without individualization by company. In such a situation, the commission could not fully verify the correctness, reliability and sufficiency of the data.
There are also claims regarding transparency. Market participants have not found on official resources neither minutes of the commission meetings, nor detailed methodology of evaluation, nor justification of the decision. Therefore, merchants ask for the act of the commission with the motives, evaluation criteria and methodology of scoring.
Response from the Ministry of Environment
Logos Press sent a request to the State Secretary of the Ministry of Environment, Grigora Stratulat, asking for comments: what was the mechanism for calculating the 3/5 market coverage 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?
According to Grigore Stratulat, the mechanism for calculating the tariff in the Eco-Ret system is based on an internal procedure involving independent consultants and confidential processing of producers’ data. According to him, companies provide consultants with information about their volumes, after which the data are aggregated and submitted to the commission for analysis and verification, but without disclosure of individual indicators between market participants.
He emphasized that it is on the basis of aggregate packaging volumes and projected costs that the benchmark of covering 3/5 of the market is formed. However, the specific proportions of individual producers within this model are not disclosed.
Retail asks for flexibility, not exceptions
A separate topic is packaging acceptance machines. Retailers believe that the obligation to place the equipment in all stores with an area of 150 square meters or more may lead to disproportionate costs. In their opinion, the effectiveness of the system depends not on the mechanical installation of machines in each point of sale, but on the overall collection model, rational distribution of return points and the ability to achieve target indicators.
The companies propose to delegate the decision on equipment placement to the SDA administrator, who should design the system based on actual market volumes, geography of consumption and efficiency of return points. Such an approach, they believe, would allow the use of more powerful modern machines and a more rational distribution of collection points.
Another proposal is to allow merchants to install their own vending machines, subject to minimum technical requirements. For large chains, this is important from the point of view of a common standard of equipment, negotiations with suppliers and control of operating costs. In such a case, a separate management tariff should also apply for stores investing in their own infrastructure.
The ministry should be a mediator
Given the complexity of the situation, companies are concerned about the short timeframe to implement such a complex project and achieve the goal.
At the same time, Moldreturo Association proposes to include representatives of the Ministry of Environment as mediators in the working group for the creation of the future SDA administrator. Traders refer to international practice: in Germany, both the competition authority and the environmental authority play a supervisory role; in France, the tariff methodology is approved by the authorities; in Great Britain, tariff schemes are publicly consulted for at least 12 weeks.
That is why Moldreturo Association asks the authorities not to approve the draft government decree on the appointment of the SDA administrator until procedural and controversial issues are fully clarified.
This dispute is more important for Moldova than a single environmental project. The SDA should be part of the transition to a closed-cycle economy and show that the country is capable of implementing European mechanisms not only formally, but also according to European rules – with transparency, competition, market participation and verifiable decisions. Now business is telling the authorities: the system should be launched, but it should not be started with mistrust.
