Carolina Novac, State Secretary at Moldova’s Energy Ministry, has publicly responded after information emerged about her earnings as a member of the Supervisory Board of Moldovagaz, from which she received more than 2.25 million Moldovan lei last year.
In a Facebook post, Novac said she understands the public reaction given the large gap between such remuneration and average incomes in Moldova. She stressed that the level of compensation was neither determined by her nor by the Moldovan side, but had been approved in 2014 under Moldovagaz’s corporate decisions.
“The remuneration of Supervisory Board members is not determined by me or by the Moldovan side. It was approved back in 2014 under Moldovagaz’s corporate decisions,” Novac wrote.
According to her, Moldova’s Public Property Agency has repeatedly proposed significantly reducing these payments, but the initiatives have not been approved by the company’s majority shareholder.
“In recent years, the Public Property Agency has repeatedly proposed substantial reductions in these remunerations. I supported these proposals every time they were discussed by the Supervisory Board. Unfortunately, they were blocked by Gazprom’s representatives, as the majority shareholder,” she said.
Novac added that she does not consider the current level of remuneration to be justified in light of Moldova’s economic realities and announced that she has decided to donate part of the income to a children’s institution.
“I do not believe such a level of remuneration is justified given Moldova’s economic realities. Since changing the amount was not possible, I decided to donate part of this income to a children’s institution. The procedure is already under way,” she said.
In the same statement, Novac also referred to her work in the energy sector, including the audit of Gazprom’s so-called historical debt claims.
“From 2022 until May 2023, I coordinated the international audit of Gazprom’s alleged historical debts. I oversaw the work of the international consultants Wyborg Rein and Forensic Risk Alliance,” she said.
According to Novac, the audit helped demonstrate that Gazprom’s financial claims lacked the legal basis asserted by the Russian company.
She also described the situation she encountered at Moldovagaz as highly challenging, saying the company, controlled by Gazprom, had exercised disproportionate influence over Moldova’s economy and energy security. Since 2022, she said, she has worked on implementing European energy legislation, liberalising the natural gas market and reducing dependence on Gazprom’s monopoly.
Novac concluded by saying she accepts responsibility for her work and will continue to support lower remuneration for governing bodies of state-owned enterprises.
According to her 2025 asset declaration, Novac’s largest source of income was her position on the Moldovagaz Supervisory Board, which brought her more than 2.25 million lei.
In addition, she declared a salary of more than 546,000 lei from the Energy Ministry, about 10,000 lei in royalties for an article on renewable energy and energy independence, 21,601 lei from the state-owned Costești Hydroelectric Complex, approximately 12,952 lei in bank interest, €445.66 from a bank account in Belgium, 138,505 lei in returns from government bonds, and nearly 92,000 lei in business travel reimbursements.
Her asset declaration also lists savings held in several bank accounts and deposits denominated in Moldovan lei, euros and U.S. dollars, including deposits of 50,000 lei, 200,000 lei and more than €82,000.