Balti Cahul, Cimislia, Zaim, Costesti and Budesti were awarded by IDIS "Viitorul" for ensuring transparency in the activity of the local public administration. The award ceremony took place today, October 19, at a public conference.

"I hope these mayoralties and regional administrations will serve as inspiration for others to be more transparent and open to citizens", said Peter Tomášek, Diplomat for Development and Cooperation at the Embassy of the Slovak Republic in Chisinau.

According to the report "Transparency in local government: Between progress and involution" launched in June, the most open local public authorities in Moldova are Balti (83.5 out of 100), Cahul (56 points) and Cimislia (49 points). These mayoralties were in the top 10 most transparent municipalities in 2016. Thus, only the Town Hall of the Balti municipality published on the official website - http://balti.md/ the public procurement contracts held last year and is one of the three authorities (Chisinau and Orhei) who made public the Transparency Report last year. Also, only the Balti City Hall website presents the synthesis of recommendations from all public consultations.

Cahul Town Hall, which is the second most transparent authority in the country, is the only one which published the activity reports and annual financial analyzes of municipal enterprises in 2016. Similarly, the Town Hall is a model for the systematic publication of the procurement notices. On the website of Cahul, as well as those in Cimislia and Straseni, we find statements about the mayors' income. "We have to be on the brink of time and do our best to really feel that the citizen has the choice of the man or the team who will represent him and he will solve his problems without pulling the string", sais the deputy mayor of the municipality, Tatiana Romaniuc-Mititelu.

In turn, although they are small localities, they have been able to implement measures to increase transparency at the community level. These are the municipalities of Zaim (Causeni district), the village of Costesti (Ialoveni rayon) and the village of Budesti (Chisinau municipality). Consequently, for the first time in the village of Costesti (15th out of 60 localities), at the initiative of the inhabitants, all meetings of the Local Council can be watched live. Public broadcasting of public sessions is one of the activities of the project "Enhancing Transparency and Accountability of Local Governance and Public Participation in the Village of Costesti", implemented with the support of the Council of Europe. The project also includes training seminars for public servants to ensure decisional transparency and to modernize the website www.costesti.md.

"Transparency is a principle of democratic public administration. It is only achieved if the local authority leader so desires", said the Mayor of Costesti village, Natalia Petrea.

Zaim Village Hall, which earned 42.7 points in 2016, is one of the best examples of transparency in the drafting and execution of the local budget. And Budesti Village Hall is the only authority, according to the IDIS "Viitorul" Transparency Report, which adopted and published the Regulation on the allocation of land for the construction of individual dwelling houses and made the list of people standing for assignment land.

"In our village, the transparency is a way of being the local public authority and civil servants. We communicate effectively, interactively and permanently", commented the mayor of the commune, Ion Veste. And, the mayor Nina Costiuc from Budesti underlined that the level of democracy depends on the level of transparency. "Good governance means citizen involvement and participation in decision-making and in community life. We need to be effective in ensuring transparency, as this means good governance and a high quality of life".

In addition to the municipalities in the six cities and villages, the rayon councils also received transparency awards. Thus, according to the latest ranking made by IDIS "Viitorul", the most open rayon authorities in Moldova are those from Straseni, Falesti and Soroca. "Thank you very much for your appreciation, and especially for your colleagues, thanks to which transparency is ensured within the Rayon Council. There is a word from the people saying that man sanctifies the place and it is our duty, the public servants, to sanctify the place in order to receive instead the appreciation of the citizen", urges the president of Straseni district, Mihail Popa.

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Top of the most transparent local public authorities in Moldova can be found on the open data portal www.localtransparency.viitorul.org.

The event was held within the project “Transparent, financially sound and competitive municipalities in Moldova” which is implemented by the Institute for Economic and Social Reforms (INEKO) in partnership with IDIS “Viitorul”, with the support of the SlovakAid and the US Embassy to Moldova. The project aims to increase the financial accountability of local governments in 50 municipalities throughout Moldova.

For details, contact Ana – Maria Veverita: ana.veverita@viitorul.org or at phone number (0 22) 221844