Spending by Moldova’s state-owned air traffic services provider MoldATSA on staff training and business travel increased dramatically over the past five years, rising from just 363,000 Moldovan lei in 2020 to more than 9.06 million lei during the first nine months of 2025, according to an analysis by Moldova’s National Anticorruption Center.
The report highlights what investigators describe as multiple cases of inefficient use of public funds and a lack of clear justification for some foreign trips and professional training programmes.
Training expenditure increased 25-fold
According to the report, spending on training and official travel evolved as follows:
- 2020: 363,000 lei
- 2021: 1.65 million lei
- 2022: 682,000 lei
- 2023: 800,000 lei
- 2024: 4.41 million lei
- First nine months of 2025: 9.06 million lei
The sharp increase prompted scrutiny from the CNA, which found that in numerous cases employees attended training programmes without documented professional necessity, while the connection between the courses and participants’ official duties was not sufficiently demonstrated.
Preference for costly IATA courses
The report notes that, as a member of EUROCONTROL, Moldova has access to a large number of aviation training courses free of charge, with participants generally covering only travel expenses.
Despite this, MoldATSA repeatedly chose paid courses organised by the International Air Transport Association in 2025.
According to the CNA, an IATA course typically costs between 80,000 and 120,000 lei per participant, while comparable EUROCONTROL training results in expenses of only 25,000–40,000 lei, mainly for travel.
One example cited concerns training on Fatigue Risk Management Systems (FRMS).
In July 2025, MoldATSA’s director and another employee attended an FRMS course organised by IATA in Singapore. Only days later, the same course was held in Moldova. In September 2025, another identical session took place in Chișinău, yet the company continued sending employees to similar courses in Singapore and Thailand.
According to the report, MoldATSA spent more than 1.8 million lei on FRMS training alone during the first nine months of 2025.
Investigators noted that all participants received the same certificates and qualifications regardless of whether the training took place in Moldova or Asia, raising questions about the necessity of the costly overseas travel.
Chief accountant sent to UK for beginner English course
The CNA also highlighted another case involving MoldATSA’s chief accountant, who was sent to the United Kingdom to attend a beginner-level (A2) English language course organised by a private company.
The training cost exceeded 106,000 lei, including nearly 88,400 lei excluding VAT.
According to investigators, comparable courses were available in Moldova or online at significantly lower cost, while no documented justification was provided explaining why the training needed to take place abroad.
Systemic shortcomings identified
The report concludes that MoldATSA’s planning and management of staff training suffered from several deficiencies, including:
- employees attending courses unrelated to their official duties;
- expensive foreign travel despite the availability of local alternatives;
- repeated participation in courses covering the same topics;
- insufficient use of free EUROCONTROL training programmes;
- lack of cost-benefit analyses and economic justification for certain business trips.
The findings come as officers of the National Anticorruption Center, under the supervision of the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, are conducting criminal investigative actions at MoldATSA headquarters in a case involving suspected aggravated abuse of office.