The Ministry of Finance was found to have incorrectly classified fixed assets worth 21.7 million lei. These “errors” were corrected directly during the audit.
Overall, everything is in order, “except for the possible impact of circumstances” that led the auditors to issue a “qualified” opinion. The list of qualifications raises questions about the qualifications of the ministry’s specialists.
This was the conclusion reached by the Court of Auditors following a scheduled audit of the Ministry of Finance’s consolidated financial statements for the previous year. The auditors were compelled, not without reservations, to acknowledge their reliability.
Modernization of the “Leuşen” Customs Post
The auditors’ opinion is based primarily on the actions of the Customs Service (CS) as one of the subordinate agencies and on how it records certain goods in its accounting records—not in “the correct column” and not “at the correct prices.”
In addition to “minor” errors totaling 19.4 million lei in incorrect accounting entries, there are also larger discrepancies related to the agency’s investment processes for the construction of customs checkpoints.
The Customs Service spent 19.2 million lei on this rehabilitation project. Although the work was completed at the end of 2023, the acceptance of the facility has not yet been finalized since 2024 due to discrepancies identified by the acceptance commission. Despite requests, the contractor did not remedy the deficiencies, and the Customs Service enforced a warranty obligation in the amount of 0.8 million lei.
As a result, the modernization project could not be closed: an audit revealed that four buildings related to the investment project, with a total area of 104.8 m² and a value of 2.8 million lei, had not been registered with the Cadastral Office.
Another investment project also remained “up in the air” as it had not been fully implemented. The audit revealed “difficulties in the Customs Service’s implementation of the investment project ‘Infrastructure Modernization under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) Program,’ with a total cost of approximately 14.6 million euros, of which 50% is a grant, and 50% is a loan.”
Although the first tranche of the grant, amounting to 56 million lei, was received in 2024, only 0.7 million lei was utilized. At the same time, in 2025, 2.0 million lei was disbursed from the agreed loan, while expenditures totaled only 0.3 million lei.
As a result, no capital investments were made under the project during 2025, and the balance of available funds at the end of the period amounted to 58.7 million lei.
“The situation was also influenced by the signing of the Agreement between the Republic of Moldova and Romania on coordinated control at the Leuşeni-Albita and Giurgiuleşti-Galaţi border crossing points, which led to the postponement of certain activities planned under CEF projects related to the development of customs infrastructure at the entry point into the Republic of Moldova, pending a reassessment of their necessity and relevance,” the Court of Auditors’ report states.
Accounting errors or systemic issues?
This is not the first time the Court of Auditors has issued such verdicts based on identified violations and discrepancies, which are most often related to incomplete data reporting and shortcomings in the management of state property.
Problems with the disbursement of loan funds are a systemic issue. They stem from an imbalance between market conditions and the borrower’s internal processes, requiring a comprehensive approach to resolve them.
In addition, the lack of proper experience among staff in managing targeted or project-based loans has an impact, according to the auditors. Management shortcomings and inventory issues, however, typically affect non-core agencies. This makes the facts that have come to light regarding state financial institutions all the more surprising.
For example, “the Ministry of Finance failed to ensure the proper registration of two state-owned real estate properties with a total value of 9.1 million lei.” In the financial statements of the State Agency “Center for Information Technology in Finance,” they are recorded as the agency’s own fixed assets, even though they are part of state property under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Finance, according to the audit report.
The audit also revealed that the Ministry’s financial statements do not include two properties associated with a recreation center in Vadul-lui-Voda. Meanwhile, the land parcel belonging to this center, with an area of 2.4 hectares and a value of 2.8 million lei, was transferred to the State Property Agency in 2024, but at the time of the audit, it had not yet been transferred to the Ministry of Finance for use under a loan agreement.
In addition, the State Tax Service failed to ensure the registration of the right to use 11 land plots with a total area of 1.41 hectares and a value of 2.1 million lei, transferred for use under lease agreements after their transfer to the State Property Administration.
At the same time, during the audit, the Court of Auditors established that “an additional 8 land plots with a total area of 1.1 hectares and a value of 537,100 lei are not included in Government Resolution No. 161/2019, which requires the State Property Administration to properly complete the relevant annex.”
What should be done?
In such cases, state auditors typically issue a qualified opinion and provide the agency with mandatory recommendations to address all identified deficiencies
The Ministry of Finance has been instructed to address all remaining systemic gaps. The Court of Auditors emphasizes the need to address the identified shortcomings in the management of state property, accounting practices, and the implementation of investment projects.
According to the Court of Auditors’ report, the approved volume of state budget allocations for the Ministry of Finance of Moldova for the reporting period initially amounted to 1.94 billion lei, but was later adjusted and revised to 1.81 billion lei.
Logos PressNote :
In addition to its own administrative needs, the Ministry of Finance, as the chief administrator of the treasury, directly manages the country’s largest financial flows:
– public debt servicing: payment of interest and management of the Republic of Moldova’s external and internal loans;
– general-purpose transfers: allocation of funds to local budgets (districts and municipalities) to cover their deficits;
– capital investments: financing of centralized state investment projects.
