Moldovan president says scandal at MoldATSA very serious case, requires inspections at other enterprises too

President Maia Sandu has described the scandal at MoldATSA as “very serious” and said that it revealed repeated failures of control mechanisms at the enterprise and the responsible institutions. During the “În Profunzime” talk show on Pro TV Chisinau, the head of state said that the situation required inspections not only at MoldATSA, but also at other state-owned enterprises.

Maia Sandu said she had learned about discrepancies in the CV of the former director of MoldATSA from an investigation published by the Ziarul de Gardă publication. She stressed that, although he took responsibility for the information presented, the checks at the time of his employment should have been much more rigorous. According to the president, beyond the false information in the CV, there were also abuses related to the company’s salary policy.

“It is clear that a more thorough verification should have been carried out at the time of employment. Beyond the fact that he lied in his CV, we also saw the salary policies which, in my view, represent a clear abuse,” Maia Sandu said.

The head of state also criticized the activity of the company’s Board of Directors, noting that it should have identified and signaled the irregularities before they were revealed by the press. At the same time, she confirmed that there had previously been certain suspicions regarding the director’s activity, but the checks carried out at that time did not confirm the reported problems.

Referring to the salaries and bonuses granted to some MoldATSA employees, including the company’s spokesperson Anastasia Taburceanu, the president said that she had no involvement in her employment and that she learned about the situation from journalistic investigations. Maia Sandu said that the remuneration provided to certain officials cannot be justified by the work performed and noted that money received without merit should be returned.

“It is immoral to take undeserved money and this money must be returned,” the president said.

According to Maia Sandu, the Public Property Agency (APP) and the government must investigate the entire process of employing and managing the enterprise, in order to determine where the shortcomings occurred and who is responsible for them. The head of state emphasized that this case proved the need to strengthen control and verification mechanisms at state-owned enterprises.

Anastasia Taburceanu, MoldATSA spokesperson and cousin of President Maia Sandu, announced her resignation from office on June 23, specifying that she would return all sums received as bonuses and salary add-ons during her time at the company. The decision came after the publication of an investigation showing that her monthly remuneration allegedly exceeded 120,000 lei in 2026.

In a later explanation, Taburceanu said that accepting these salary supplements had been a mistake, even if, according to her, the payments were made in accordance with the law. She added that she decided to return the money, as the situation affected the image of people who had nothing to do with the case.

As for the former MoldATSA director, Dumitru Vangheli, he was dismissed by the Public Property Agency after investigations emerged regarding false information in his CV and after the salary-related scandal. President Maia Sandu said that Vangheli had been unable to confirm the information included in his CV during subsequent checks, which was one of the reasons for his dismissal.

In the meantime, the Public Property Agency (APP) ordered an audit at MoldATSA and the authorities announced similar checks at other state-owned enterprises. Maia Sandu called the case “very serious,” noting that it reveals failures of control and oversight mechanisms and that extensive investigations are needed, in order to establish accountability.

APP director Roman Cojuhari said the institution was seeking legal solutions to recover any sums that may have been unduly received and that the audit results would be presented once the checks are completed.