The competition ran from 1 February to 20 March 2024, and aimed to encourage journalists to investigate cases of corruption and conflict of interest in high-risk sectors: education, public health, social welfare and the agri-food sector. Media professionals who are part of the Network of Investigative Journalists were encouraged to submit files of investigative reports and/or articles with investigative elements produced since the beginning of 2023. The materials were evaluated by a jury of five experts in investigative and anti-corruption journalism according to the following criteria: compliance with the standards of investigative journalism; complexity of the topic/issue investigated and the effort expended by the author(s); documentation and argumentation of the statements; impact of the investigation on the problem it addresses; coherence and clarity of the presentation of the facts; compliance with the rules of ethics and copyright.

Following the evaluation of the investigations, the jury members decided to award seven prizes based on the quality and timeliness of the topics covered by the participants. As a result, two journalists won the first prize at the same time: Piotr GARCIU (freelancer, Comrat) with the investigation „Grâul frățesc. Cine a lăsat regiunea găgăuză fără fondul de rezervă pentru grâu” (Fraternal Wheat. Who Left Gagauzian Region with No Wheat Reserve) and Dorin RUSU (Tvn.md, Balti) - with the investigation „Interesele stâncoase de la Horodiște” (The Rocky Interests of Horodiște).

The jury also decided to award three incentive prizes to Iuliana IGNATIEVA (freelancer, Basarabeasca) - „Eșecul programului național „Pământ”: cum fermierii luptă de zeci de ani pentru proprietățile lor” (Failure of the National Land Program: Farmers Fighting for Their Properties for Decades),  Mihaela CIBOTARU (Anticoruptie. md) - „Cernoziomul moldovenesc, vândut la felie” (Moldovan Chernozem, Sold by the Slice), Vadim CHEPTANARU (Anticoruptie.md) - „Maternitatea care naște… pierderi: șantaj și epurări de cadre la Spitalul Clinic Municipal „Gheorghe Paladi”.  (Maternity Delivering... Losses: Blackmail and Purges of Staff at the Municipal Clinical Hospital "Gheorghe Paladi"). 

Two other investigative journalists, Elena CELAC (Freelancer, Comrat) and Tatiana GHERȚA (Anticoruptie.md) received special awards for their investigations „În Comrat se construiește ilegal o casă cu multe etaje „de elită” cu asistența consilierilor și a primăriei” ("Elite" Multi-storey Building Under Construction in Comrat with Aldermen and City Hall Help" and

„Al doilea război” al veteranilor conflictului armat de pe Nistru” (“Second War" of Veterans of Armed Conflict on Nistru River), accordingly.

The prizes offered to the winners of the competition ranged from 450 to 1200 euros. The prizes were awarded at the end of the forum, which was attended by investigative journalists and anti-corruption experts from Moldova, Romania, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan.  

Speaking at the award ceremony, Janine Baudach, Project Director of the German Agency for International Cooperation in the Republic of Moldova, expressed her admiration and respect for the courage and perseverance of investigative journalists in the Republic of Moldova in exposing corruption. At the same time, she expressed her conviction that the network of young journalists created and strengthened within the framework of this project will become an important support for the development of investigative journalism in our country, but also facilitate cooperation and exchange of experience with journalists from other countries.

For details please contact us by e-mail: ion.mazur@api.md or by phone: 022/203685, 068 983 983 (contact person – Ion Mazur).

The project "Strengthening the Rule of Law and Anti-Corruption Mechanisms in the Republic of Moldova" is co-financed by the European Union, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and implemented by the German International Cooperation Agency (GIZ).

The project partners in Chișinău are the Association of Independent Press (API) and the Center for Investigative Journalism (CIJM), which is implementing the project "Strengthening Investigative Journalist Network in Republic of Moldova and Enhancing Their Capacities to Investigate Corruption Cases."