The NAC completed the institutional integrity assessment at MoldATSA: vulnerabilities were identified in the field of recruitment, public procurement and financial resources management
The National Anti-corruption Centre (NAC) completed the institutional integrity assessment procedure at the State Enterprise for Airspace Use and Air Traffic Service "MoldATSA", carried out in accordance with the provisions of Law no. 325/2013 on the assessment of institutional integrity.
The assessment focused on the internal mechanisms for ensuring institutional integrity, the level of implementation of corruption prevention measures, as well as the identification of vulnerabilities and corruption risks specific to the enterprise's activity.
The assessment report reveals the existence of significant deficiencies in the process of recruiting and hiring personnel. The NAC found that the internal rules allow the administrator to decide at his discretion whether or not to organize competitions for filling vacant positions, a situation that affects the principles of transparency, equal opportunities and meritocracy. During 2023–2024, 33 people were hired within the company without organizing public competitions, and for none of them was a certificate of professional integrity requested, although this obligation is provided for by law. At the same time, cases of occupying management positions through the "direct search" method were identified, without transparent procedures and objective selection criteria.
The assessment also highlighted vulnerabilities in the process of granting awards and salary incentives. Internal mechanisms do not provide for clear and measurable performance criteria, which creates premises for the discretionary granting of financial benefits. Situations were found in which awards were granted for activities that were part of the usual duties of the job, as well as cases in which persons involved in approving these benefits were, at the same time, beneficiaries of them.
The NAC also identified faulty practices regarding the accumulation of functions. Some employees simultaneously exercised the duties of two or even three functions for long periods, up to nine months, without initiating procedures to fill the vacant positions, which goes beyond the temporary and exceptional nature of this mechanism and may generate risks of inefficient use of financial resources.
In the area of professional development, the report notes deficiencies in the planning and justification of training. Repeated participation in courses with similar topics was identified, including in expensive external locations, although there were free or low-cost alternatives offered at national level or through EUROCONTROL. Among the examples found is an English language course (beginner level) held in the UK, at a cost of approximately 106 000 lei. At the same time, in the first nine months of 2025, the company spent about 9 million lei on staff training.
Regarding the field of public procurement, the NAC found vulnerabilities regarding the transparency and integrity of procedures, including faulty procurement planning, segmentation of contracts, insufficient use of competitive mechanisms and the existence of practices likely to favor certain economic operators.
To reduce corruption risks and strengthen the climate of institutional integrity, the NAC submitted a set of mandatory recommendations, which aim to review the internal regulatory framework, make recruitment and procurement processes transparent, streamline the management of financial resources and strengthen internal prevention and control mechanisms.
The National Anti-corruption Centre reiterates that the responsibility for ensuring institutional integrity lies with the head of the public entity and each individual employee, and failure to implement integrity measures may result in disciplinary, contravention or criminal liability, as the case may be.
Note: The institutional integrity assessment procedure at the State Enterprise "MoldATSA" was carried out between October 2025 and June 2026.