Preventing and combating the corruption phenomenon that undermines national security was declared a priority of the Security and Intelligence Service for 2021.
The objective was approved during the extraordinary meeting of the Board of the Security and Intelligence Service of the Republic of Moldova, held on December 30, 2020, as result of previous discussions between Maia SANDU, President of the Republic of Moldova, and Alexandr ESAULENCO, Director of SIS.
In his speech, Alexandr ESAULENCO referred to the tasks that the institution will take on during 2021 and the special measures of functional competence that will contribute to ensuring and maintaining national security.
Moreover, the SIS Director did a retrospective of the activity and reiterated the main internal and external risk factors that emerged during 2020. Also, he mentioned the actions that SIS undertook in order to eliminate the risks, both in terms of intelligence and counterintelligence.
Particular attention was given to the corruption phenomenon that proved to be the most serious threat to national security in recent years, reflected also by the number of investigations of intelligence officers into actions with the greatest economic and social impact.
Likewise, the Director mentioned that institution detected several corruption processes in various sectors such as: state bodies, justice, strategic branches of the national economy, financial, banking, tax, and customs sectors, etc.
The SIS Director listed a number of priorities to be implemented in the near future aimed to prevent and discourage corruption offenses and associated forms. The main priorities are directed to develop and strengthen institutional capacities, to put maximum focus on sectors that impact national security, and to develop combat capabilities of the Security and Intelligence Service regarding the corruption phenomenon.
At the end of the meeting, the Board adopted a decision on the discussed topics, bringing forward proposals and setting deadlines for their implementation.