Dear readers, friends, partners, and supporters,

The ending year has been a challenging one, testing not only our journalistic capabilities in reporting on corruption schemes, integrity issues in public service, the war affecting us, and the crises generated by this war, but also our resilience to work in crisis and stress conditions. The Center for Investigative Journalism team and the Anticoruptie.md portal have investigated and exposed corruption schemes, influence trafficking, misappropriation of public funds, rigged acquisitions, and integrity issues in justice and the public sector. We have also scrutinized the hybrid war schemes of propaganda and disinformation. We have kept an eye on government-initiated reforms while being attuned to the concerns of citizens.

2023 has been a tough year, but we appreciate that we have overcome these challenges and reached this point.

As the year 2023 comes to a close, we want to express our heartfelt thanks for the support you have provided to the Center for Investigative Journalism team this year. Without your support, we would not have been able to do our work well and professionally.

In this year, the small but brave team at the Center for Investigative Journalism has conducted 60 investigative reports and nearly 5000 other journalistic materials, published on the portals www.anticoruptie.md and www.investigatii.md, and picked up by dozens of other media outlets in the country and abroad. We have engaged in honest and professional journalism, not competing with armies of copy-pasters.

This year, at least 5 criminal cases, out of over 10 initiated in previous years by prosecutors based on our investigative reports, have reached the judges' desks. Former President Igor Dodon appeared before the judges in the Energocom case, initiated based on our team's investigation in 2008. Two chief prosecutors were removed from the system following CIJM investigations that formed the basis for criminal cases on illicit enrichment. The National Integrity Authority conducted checks on several public officials after being targeted in our team's investigations.

In 2023, the Center for Investigative Journalism team represented the Women Investigative Journalists Network (WIJN) within the Investigative Journalists Network of Eastern Partnership Countries, launching a database of women experts from Moldova, Ukraine, Georgia, and Armenia.

The experience of the Center for Investigative Journalism has been shared this year with journalists from Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Macedonia, and Serbia.

CIJM, in collaboration with API, has strengthened a Network of Investigative Journalists in the Republic of Moldova, bringing together about 40 journalists from all regions and various media outlets.

The challenge of the year was a series of investigative reports in which the CIJM team exposed schemes of hybrid warfare, narratives, actors, and influence centers carried out by Russian propaganda in Moldova.

CIJM journalists teamed up with counterparts from Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan for cross-border investigations.

In the outgoing year, challenges were not absent: we were attacked on social networks, false accounts were activated to discredit us, attempts were made to attack the Anticoruptie.md portal. Protagonists of our investigations have taken us to court, and criminal proceedings have been initiated against investigative journalists, all at the complaints of individuals targeted in our investigations.

We resisted. We did not lose a single court case, defended our rights, including access to public information. We supported and assisted dozens of investigative journalists facing problems and obstacles.

All this would not have been possible without the support we received from funding organizations, including the International Media Support (IMS) from Denmark, the US Embassy in Moldova, the Soros Foundation-Moldova, and GIZ Moldova.

But because investigative journalism is costly, requires time, human resources, we still depend on the support of donors and contributions from citizens everywhere. We are grateful for those who support us through small contributions, including 2% of income tax, those who read our materials, volunteer their time to distribute them, and those who use our resources or report to us, especially on the Anticorruption Map, cases of corruption, abuses by officials, fraudulent management of public funds, and integrity issues.

We also thank those who helped us in the documentation process for investigative reports.

We are grateful not only for successes but also for having raised performance goals this year. These would not have been possible without the involvement of the team, our partners, and supporters, whom we appreciate endlessly.

The Anticoruptie.md portal, a niche platform with special themes, was followed by 2.5 million unique visitors, accessing our journalistic products over 7 million times, according to Google Analytics. Internal site monitoring, however, shows monthly access to our materials between 5 million and 18 million.

In the upcoming year - 2024, we wish for peace and good health for our loved ones. To all those who have been with us in 2023, we thank you and wish you all the best in 2024 – may you have everything you desire, be healthy, have your loved ones by your side, succeed in all your endeavors, dream, and see your dreams come true!

We invite you to follow us and be with us in the new year!

Happy New Year!

With love,

The Center for Investigative Journalism Team