Moldpres is Moldova’s leading news agency, providing coverage of the latest developments and the official publication of Monitorul Oficial, the country’s gazette of record, which publishes all legal documents issued by the Moldovan authorities.
Media assets
News agency: Moldpres
State Media Matrix Typology: State-Controlled (SC)
Ownership and governance
Moldpres was established as a successor to the news agency ATEM, which was dissolved in 1990 by the former Soviet Union (Moldova was a Soviet Republic until the early 1990s). In 1994, Moldpres became a state-owned agency of the newly established Moldovan Republic.
In 2018, the agency underwent a reorganization into a public institution with the State Chancellery Office, the government’s servicing bureau, as its founding entity. Since that time, it has operated as the Information State Agency Moldpres.
In 2024, Vitalie Hadei, director of the newspaper National, was appointed director of Moldpres by the State Chancellery.
Source of funding and budget
In 2020, Moldpres operated with a budget of MDL 19.7m (US$ 1.1m), as detailed in the company’s annual report. Approximately 99% of the revenue was generated from the sale of Monitorul Oficial, the official gazette of the Moldovan government where all major state announcements are published. All state institutions are required to purchase the gazette or subscribe to it. Moldpres’ bank accounts are held in the Finance Ministry treasury account.
In 2022, Moldpres had a total budget of MDL 17.1m (US$ 875,000), the majority of which was derived from sales of Monitorul Oficial, as outlined in a government document.
Editorial independence
Local experts and journalists interviewed for this report in April 2024 have indicated that the editorial agenda of Moldpres is fully under the control of the government. There is no expectation that Moldpres will engage in critical reporting or investigations. The agency’s own mission statement indicates that its objective is to disseminate information about the policies of the Moldovan government and the activities of its various authorities.
There is no domestic legislation that establishes the editorial independence of Moldpres. While the agency has an ethical code that all Moldpres employees are expected to adhere to, this does not constitute a legally binding guarantee of editorial independence.
There is no independent assessment or oversight mechanism in place to validate the editorial independence of Moldpres.
September 2024