Expert-Grup

Expert-Grup: “Budget Plus” Must Be Aligned with Good Governance Principles and an Economic Model Based on Value Added

Wednesday, 16 April 20252100 views
Expert-Grup: “Budget Plus” Must Be Aligned with Good Governance Principles and an Economic Model Based on Value Added

Automatically translated summary. The full article is available in Romanian.

The Independent Think Tank “Expert-Grup” presented a position paper at a press conference on the draft amendment to the 2025 State Budget Law, known as “Budget Plus”, and on the implementation of Moldova's Economic Growth Plan, which is financially supported by the European Union.

The paper points to several problems: disregard for transparency in decision-making, measures that are inconsistent with the philosophy of the Growth Plan, risks to local autonomy and possible political clientelism in allocating funds. Marina Soloviova, programme director for Economic Policies and author of the paper, stressed these criticisms.

Its recommendations include budget transparency, alignment with the Plan's objectives, local autonomy and broad participation, avoiding populist, unproductive projects financed by EU support, and prioritising investment in competitiveness and value added. Executive director Adrian Lupușor said EU resources must follow good governance principles (transparency, public consultation, depoliticised financial flows, no conflicts of interest) and “Budget Plus” does not fit them. Expert-Grup will keep monitoring how the funds are managed.

View the original article in Romanian