The Presidential Elections Cost Moldova Over 7 Million Euros
Moldova spent over 149 million Moldovan Lei (7 million euros) for the 2020 presidential elections. The Central Electoral Commission estimated that around 167 million lei would be needed, but despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the expenses were reduced.
In December 2019, the Central Electoral Commission approved the institutional budget for 2020, in which the presidential election was estimated to cost a little over 167 million Lei (nearly 8 million euros).
According to the Activity Report of the Central Electoral Commission for 2020, a total of 149 million Lei were spent for the presidential election organization from November 1 to 15.
The Moldovan state spent 127 million lei or almost 82% of the amount of 155 million expected.
For the organization of the elections abroad, the planned budget was 11,5 million Lei, but only 9,6 million Lei (500,000 euros) were spent.
In order to prevent the spread of infection due to the COVID-19 pandemic, another 13,3 million Lei (600,000 euros) were allocated from the Government’s reserve fund to purchase protective equipment for electoral staff.