The Parliament has announced a public competition for the selection of candidates for the position of a member of the Supervisory Board of the National Bank of Moldova (NBM). This decision comes despite the previous statement by Radu Marian, the President of the Economy, Budget, and Finance Commission, who suggested that future members could be appointed directly, and that applications were already under analysis. In an investigation titled "Millionaires from the Supervisory Board of the BNM", Anticoruptie.md reported that the remuneration of the board members exceeds the scandalous salaries of the management of state agencies, while being several times higher than those of the highest-ranking officials in the state. In this context, Marian mentioned that changing the remuneration structure is untimely as long as the "guardians of the Moldovan leu" are not paid from the state budget but from the NBM's own sources, and their mission is highly responsible.

In the cited investigation, the President of the Economy, Budget, and Finance Commission, Radu Marian, stated that eight potential candidates for the NBM Supervisory Council, who will be ready to assume their roles from July 29, are already under analysis in the Parliament. Regarding their remuneration, Marian believes that it is unnecessary to make changes since they are not paid from the state budget but from the NBM's own sources.

"We will not hold a competition; we will make appointments. We are currently in the process of selecting candidates. We have a more extensive list, and we will conduct an analysis, but it is premature to disclose any names. We are analyzing about 7-8 people. The NBM has an independent budget and is not financed from the state budget. Given its crucial importance, it is only natural that those overseeing such an important field should be remunerated accordingly. I understand that their salary is much higher than the average, but, as I mentioned, it comes from the NBM's own sources," said Radu Marian.

On the other hand, Sergiu Bozianu, a lawyer from the Center for Investigative Journalism (CIJM), argued that organizing a competition is the mechanism that ensures the prevention of political interference in the procedure for appointing individuals to positions of public dignity. These individuals, based on the duties assigned to their positions, are obliged to remain outside of any political influence.

"The roles of the members of the Supervisory Board are positions of public importance, and according to Article 6, paragraph (4) of Law no. 199/2010 regarding the status of persons holding positions of public importance, appointments are made through competition, unless a special law provides otherwise. In this case, the special law - Law no. 548/1995 regarding the National Bank of Moldova, in Article 23, paragraph (7), sets conditions for candidates, and according to paragraph (5) of the same Article, the economy, budget, and finance committee of the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova must approve the competition procedure," explained Bozianu.

However, it appears that the authorities have ultimately decided to announce a public tender.

The decision to organize the competition for the filling of four positions as members of the NBM Supervisory Board was announced on Friday, July 7. According to the imposed requirements, applicants for the position must have at least 10 years of work experience in the financial, legal, or auditing fields, or hold a scientific or academic position in these fields. The application files must include a declaration, made under one's own responsibility, stating that if appointed as a member of the NBM supervisory board, the candidate will resign from any positions incompatible with the role of an NBM supervisory board member for the duration of the mandate.

The application files can be submitted starting today until July 14, 2023, at 9:00 a.m., at the Economy, Budget, and Finance Commission, located at MD-2073, Chisinau municipality, bd. Ştefan cel Mare si Sfânt, no. 105, 9th floor, office 917 or via email at [email protected], on Monday to Friday, between 8:00 and 17:00. The person responsible for receiving the files is Dorin Barcari, tel.: 022 820 238."