A vice president of the youth organization of Moldova’s ruling Action and Solidarity Party (PAS) was employed in the cabinet of the culture minister while she was still a first-year university student and subsequently received contracts from two ministries and a state institution, according to an investigation by Moldova Curata.
Selinia Cojocaru, now 22, was studying Journalism and Communication Sciences in 2023 when she was appointed as an assistant in the cabinet of Culture Minister Sergiu Prodan. She later worked under service contracts for the Culture and Environment ministries, was employed by the National Administration “Apele Moldovei,” and now says she serves as an adviser in the cabinet of Environment Minister Gheorghe Hajder.
The investigation comes after the case of Bogdan Zgherea, another PAS Youth Organization vice president who was employed by the Culture Ministry while having only completed high school and received a gross monthly salary of 33,000 lei.
According to Moldova Curata, none of the positions or service contracts involving Cojocaru were awarded through open recruitment competitions or public procurement procedures. Instead, some services were contracted directly under small-value procurement rules.
Employed by the Culture Ministry after high school
Cojocaru was 19 and had just graduated from the “Aristotel” High School in Chisinau when she was hired on July 21, 2023, as an assistant in Culture Minister Sergiu Prodan’s cabinet, working half-time.
The Culture Ministry said she was paid 7,700 lei gross per month, approximately half of the amount normally provided for the position because of her level of education.
The ministry said the appointment was made on the basis of the minister’s personal trust, as provided by legislation governing staff in the cabinets of public officials.
However, Lilia Ionita, program director at the Center for Analysis and Prevention of Corruption (CAPC), said the appointment raised questions because the law required completed higher education and a bachelor’s degree for such a position.
“Nobody disputes the idea that young people should be encouraged to work while studying, gain experience and develop professionally. On the contrary, it would be very good for such opportunities to exist for as many as possible,” Ionita said.
“But for employment in a minister’s cabinet, Law No. 80/2010 expressly required completed higher education with a bachelor’s degree. Personal trust is an additional condition, not a substitute for education,” she added.
Cojocaru worked in the minister’s cabinet until January 31, 2024.
Contracts with two ministries
After leaving the minister’s cabinet, Cojocaru continued working for the Culture Ministry under a service contract worth 85,200 lei for an 11-month period.
The ministry said the contract was awarded in accordance with the rules governing low-value public procurement.
Cojocaru said she provided promotional services for the National Cultural Voucher Program, including communication activities, promotional materials, written content, video production, graphic design, editing and post-production, as well as managing and adapting content for communication platforms.
While her contract with the Culture Ministry was still active, she also signed a service contract with the Environment Ministry on May 20, 2024, worth 64,295 lei and valid until December of that year.
The ministry said Cojocaru was hired to produce and process photo and video materials from ministry events, film and edit interviews and reports, create graphic materials and adapt content for digital platforms, as well as provide technical assistance to ministry employees using design and multimedia production software.
In 2025, the Environment Ministry awarded her two additional contracts worth 30,000 lei and 60,000 lei. The second contract was terminated early, meaning that the total amount actually paid to Cojocaru by the ministry that year was 66,086.96 lei.
During the same year, she also worked for the StartUp Moldova Foundation, receiving 131,672.09 lei, according to Moldova Curata.
She continued working while studying
Cojocaru was still a university student while carrying out these professional activities.
Asked how she managed to combine her studies with several contracts, she said that university regulations allowed employed students to follow an individual academic schedule.
She said this meant reduced attendance at regular classes, while maintaining the obligation to take examinations and complete all assignments and academic requirements.
“I consider that using the label ‘person without education’ creates misleading perceptions,” Cojocaru said. “A young person who is still at university has the right to work, gain experience and demonstrate their skills.”
She graduated from the Faculty of Journalism and Communication Sciences in June 2026 and said she completed her bachelor’s degree with the highest results.
Employment at Apele Moldovei
In August 2025, while still holding a contract with the Environment Ministry, Cojocaru was employed as a principal specialist at the National Administration “Apele Moldovei,” in the secretariat of the Danube-Prut and Black Sea River Basin Committee.
The institution said she was hired “on the basis of the person’s application,” without a competition, under a fixed-term employment contract.
The institution stressed that the position was contractual rather than a public office and therefore was not subject to the competitive recruitment procedure applicable to civil servants.
Former Apele Moldovei director Nicu Belitei, who signed the employment order, similarly argued that the position should not be confused with a public-service position simply because it was called “principal specialist.”
He said Cojocaru’s university studies, practical experience and skills in communication, social media and multimedia production had been taken into account.
Belitei also denied that her affiliation with PAS played any role in the appointment.
“There was no preferential criterion based on political affiliation,” he said.
Now working in the Environment Minister’s cabinet
After graduating in June 2026, Cojocaru said she was hired in the cabinet of Environment Minister Gheorghe Hajder.
Her name, however, does not appear on the ministry’s website among the members of the minister’s cabinet, according to Moldova Curata.
Cojocaru defended her professional record, saying she had worked intensively while studying and had successfully combined education with professional activity.
“I believe young people should be encouraged to enter the workforce while studying, gain experience, contribute and grow professionally,” she said.
Integrity expert raises questions about equal opportunities
Lilia Ionita said that, taken as a whole, Cojocaru’s career path raises broader questions than simply her age or lack of a degree at the time of her first appointment.
“Looking at the entire path – a minister’s cabinet, successive contracts with two ministries, a position in a public institution where, according to the institution, employment was made simply ‘on the basis of the person’s application,’ and then another minister’s cabinet – the discussion is no longer only about age or a diploma,” Ionita said.
She argued that the sequence inevitably creates “a shadow of favoritism” and raises questions about equal opportunities for other young people.
“How many other young people, equally good or perhaps even better, knew that they could submit such an application and that such an opportunity existed?” she asked.
Ionita added that it was difficult for her to imagine a similarly smooth career path for a young person holding a leadership position in the youth wing of an opposition party, even with a strong CV.
“The problem is not that some young people receive surprisingly good opportunities. It would be good if they did. The problem is whether such opportunities are, in reality, opportunities for everyone,” she concluded.