State-owned enterprise MoldATSA has announced that Anastasia Taburceanu, a cousin of President Maia Sandu, has returned all the salary she received during her employment with the company.
According to the company’s official response to a media inquiry, Taburceanu transferred the full amount to MoldATSA’s bank account.
“In response to your request for information regarding Ms. Anastasia Taburceanu, we confirm that funds corresponding to the total salary she received throughout her employment have been transferred to the bank account of the State Enterprise MoldATSA,” the statement reads.
However, the company declined to explain the legal grounds for what it described as an unusual financial transaction.
MoldATSA stated that additional details cannot be disclosed until ongoing inspections by the company’s Audit Commission and the Financial Inspection Service have been completed.
“With regard to other aspects concerning the legal mechanism of these operations, the purpose of the transferred funds, and how they are reflected in the company’s accounting records, this information may only be provided after the completion of the official inspections currently being carried out by the Audit Commission and the Financial Inspection Service.”
Taburceanu herself has not publicly explained how she was able to immediately transfer what has been described as approximately €50,000 back to the state enterprise.
Questions Surround the Employment Arrangement
The circumstances surrounding the employment of the president’s cousin continue to raise questions.
Taburceanu worked as a communications specialist at MoldATSA while reportedly residing in Slovenia rather than Moldova.
Her employment was not reportedly the result of a public recruitment competition, and her name does not appear among relatives disclosed in the president’s public asset declarations.
According to reports, Taburceanu allegedly earned approximately €6,000 per month from MoldATSA while simultaneously receiving about €4,000 per month through a European Union-funded project.
Some estimates suggest the combined monthly income of the Sandu family circle may have exceeded €23,000, although these figures have not been officially confirmed.
A public opinion poll conducted by IMAS reportedly found that 74% of Moldovan respondents do not believe President Sandu’s statement that she learned about her cousin’s employment only through media reports. The survey also found that 80% doubt the authorities will introduce meaningful reforms in state institutions following the controversy.
As critics have asked:
“If the system has truly changed, why do relatives holding positions in key public institutions only become known after a public scandal?”
An Unusual Financial Transaction
The legal implications remain unclear.
Moldova’s Labour Code does not explicitly provide a mechanism for employees to voluntarily return wages already paid for work that was legally performed under a valid employment contract.
This is one of the reasons MoldATSA declined to explain the legal nature of the reimbursement, referring instead to the ongoing inspections.
It also remains unclear whether the returned funds will remain within the company’s budget or ultimately be transferred to the state budget.
For now, the accounting treatment and legal classification of the transaction remain unresolved pending the outcome of the official audit.
