The Moldovan government intends to more than double the salaries of members of parliament—from 20,800 to 45,900 lei per month. At the same time, a reform of public sector pay totaling nearly 5 billion lei is being prepared. However, in some government agencies, employees already earn 50,000–80,000 lei or more. In fact, several publicly funded pay systems operate in the country, and the differences between them are not always explained by responsibilities, qualifications, or work performance.
Finance Minister Victoria Belous explained that the increase in lawmakers' salaries will be accompanied by a reduction in compensation payments. Therefore, a 2.2-fold increase in salary does not necessarily mean the same increase in a lawmaker's total income. The reform will also affect other categories of public sector employees, including those currently earning about 6,300 lei per month.
The government acknowledged the extent of wage disparities as early as this summer. At its request, the incomes of 39,796 employees across 125 government agencies, public authorities, and enterprises were analyzed. It turned out that 55.6% of employees earned less than 10,000 lei net per month, and 85.8% earned less than 20,000 lei. At the same time, 439 people earned more than 50,000 lei net per month, including 152 who earned more than 80,000 lei.
The differences are particularly noticeable in autonomous regulatory agencies and state-owned enterprises. According to a previously published analysis of government data, the median net salary at ANRE was nearly 44,000 lei, at MoldATSA—43,200, at Energocom—36,900, at the e-Government Agency—32,500, and at the National Bank of Moldova—30,300 lei. These figures are for the first half of 2026 and include bonuses and other payments.
The scandal surrounding MoldATSA was particularly telling. An investigation by RISE Moldova found that Anastasia Taburcanu, the spokesperson for the state-owned enterprise, received over one million lei in less than a year, and in certain months of 2026, her compensation exceeded 120,000 lei. She herself reported that her base salary was 25,700 lei, and the remaining amounts could have included stipulated bonuses and business travel expenses. Following the publication, the Public Property Agency launched an investigation. Meanwhile, according to data published by the State Chancellery, the Prime Minister's press secretary's salary was 36,870 lei per month.
The National Bank of Moldova deserves special mention. Its independence is essential for monetary policy and banking supervision, but this does not preclude oversight of the reasonableness of its administrative expenses. According to the NBM's annual report, personnel expenses, including social security contributions, totaled 400.15 million lei in 2024.
Unlike typical budgetary institutions, the NBM finances its operations from its own resources. However, its financial performance is significant for public finances. The law provides for the distribution of distributable profits between strengthening the bank's capital and the state budget, depending on the established capital adequacy ratio. At the end of 2025, the NBM transferred 910.41 million lei to the budget and allocated the same amount to increase its equity capital. Therefore, personnel expenses affect the bank's financial results, although a reduction in these expenses does not automatically mean an increase in budget revenues by the same amount.
High salaries for specialists in financial supervision, reserve management, or cybersecurity may be justified by competition for qualified personnel. However, the level of compensation should be determined by clear criteria, not solely by the institution's financial capacity. This also applies to other autonomous bodies, whose management is granted significant discretion in setting salaries and additional payments.
A government audit revealed shortcomings in the oversight of compensation, including the influence of the heads of certain organizations on setting their own pay and the use of bonuses and allowances to circumvent salary caps. At the same time, autonomous institutions operate under special legislation, so it is not possible to change their compensation policies with a single government decision.
A labor compensation reform costing nearly 5 billion lei could narrow the gap between low-paid categories of public sector employees. But if it is limited to revising salaries without addressing the mechanisms for setting high compensation in autonomous institutions and state-owned enterprises, the existing disparities will persist. The state is not required to pay everyone the same. However, it must be able to explain why one employee earns 6,300 lei per month while another earns 80,000 lei or more, and what justifies this difference. // 05.11.2026 – InfoMarket.