TRM administration “seeking a solution” regarding Vlad Țurcanu’s contract. Details from the hearings

The general director of the public company Teleradio-Moldova (TRM), Vlad Țurcanu, requested the cancellation of his old employment contract and the signing of a new one after the audit report of the Court of Auditors identified irregularities in the clauses of the document. The Supervisory Board (SB) of the institution claims that it is looking for solutions to the issue. The statements were made on Wednesday, December 3, during hearings organized in Parliament by the Committee on Public Finance Control and the Committee on Mass Media.

The current contract obliges Teleradio-Moldova to pay the general manager 364,000 lei at the end of his term and up to 1.5 million lei in the event of early dismissal – clauses that have sparked criticism in the public sphere. In Parliament, Vlad Țurcanu stated that, “given the Court of Auditors’ referral regarding the general manager’s contract, concluded with the chairman of the Supervisory Board, this morning, at the request of the Parliament’s Media Committee, I submitted my contract, exactly as it was signed on December 3, 2021.” He stressed that the document was made available to the legislature to clarify the issues raised by the audit.

At the same time, in front of the deputies, the general director of TRM mentioned that he had sent a request to the Supervisory Board to terminate the old contract and sign a new one.

Arcadie Gherasim, chairman of the TRM Supervisory Board, said that the institution “is looking for a solution to the issues raised by the Court of Auditors regarding Mr. Țurcanu’s contract.” According to him, at a previous meeting, the members of the Board unanimously decided to conclude a new contract, signed by the Chairman of the Board, but only after obtaining legal expertise to ensure that the procedure is correct. He specified that two letters had been sent – one to the Audiovisual Council, requesting suggestions, and another to the Parliament Secretariat. Furthermore, Arcadie Gherasim pointed out that this would be the first time in the last 15 years that the Council would explicitly grant the president the right to sign the contract with the director general, as in 2015 and 2019 this was done without a formal decision by the Council.

With regard to Vlad Țurcanu’s request to dissolve the old contract and sign a new one, the CS president indicated that the document would be examined at a future Council meeting.

The issue of the TRM manager’s contract is among the irregularities identified at TRM following the Court of Auditors’ audit report on the institution’s financial activity for the years 2023–2024. Specifically, the institution pointed out legal provisions that allow for a dual relationship between the TRM director and the CS president, creating a situation of mutual subordination and a possible conflict of interest. The situation created allowed the general director of TRM to negotiate and sign individual employment contracts with the president and secretary of the CS, and the president of the CS to sign the director’s contract. The legislation does not give either of them the power to negotiate or grant additional remuneration beyond the decisions of Parliament. This relationship of mutual subordination and the practice of negotiating contracts led to financial commitments that were not provided for in internal policies and legal regulations on remuneration, according to the Court.

Media Azi previously reported that Parliament took note of these findings, and TRM has one year to remedy the non-compliances and implement the 15 recommendations made by the Court of Auditors.