Moldovan Customs Service leadership unveils reformation plan

Chisinau, 12 April /MOLDPRES/-The leadership of the Customs Service today unveiled a reformation plan of the institution, as well as its activity report on the first quarter of 2016.

The director general of the Customs Service, Vitalie Vrabie said the old management of the institution had left behind “a system open to corruption and illegalities”.

“Law-enforcement bodies unmasked corruption phenomena, bribery, conflict of interests, involvement in various criminal schemes and many other illegal activities. So far, dozens of customs officers have been dismissed and held accountable. Staff reshuffles will take place, starting with the employees of the central apparatus to the most ordinary customs officers,” Vrabie said.

In the same context, the head of the Customs Service said the central apparatus had had 165 employees in 2009, while currently it had 388, which explains the unjustifiable creation of more irrelevant management positions.

“The integrity problem of customs officers is the most important, as it threatens Moldova’s economic security. Massive staff reshuffles will start on 25 April 2016 and the entire system will be optimized,” Vrabie noted.

The new leadership also aims to decrease the number of customs offices. Therefore, only three customs offices in Moldova’s northern, central and southern areas, will be left out of seven. The leadership will also reduce the number of internal customs offices, which proved to be inefficient, as well as enhance the accountability and salaries of employees and also tighten controls in all fields.

The Customs Service currently collects about 60 per cent of all the revenues to the state budget. A 9.7-per-cent increase in this sense was noticed in March 2016, against the same period in 2015.

Vitalie Vrabie was appointed as director general of the Customs Service on 18 March 2016.

(Reporter P. Beregoi, Editor A. Raileanu)