gagauzinfo.md
Gagauzinfo.md is a Russian-language news portal operating in Moldova's Gagauz autonomous region. The website is owned by Iusivmedia SRL, founded and managed by Iulia Spatarenco, who has no professional journalism background or other business interests. Media investigations have reported her close ties to Irina Vlah, former Bashkan (Governor) of Gagauzia.
In the October 20, 2024 presidential election of the Republic of Moldova, Vlah ran for president and received 5.38% of the votes.
After the second round of the presidential elections on November 5, 2024, Irina Vlah announced the creation of a new political party with which she wants to participate in the 2025 parliamentary elections, called the "Republican Party of the Heart of Moldova" (PRIM).
Investigative reports revealed that Spatarenco served as Irina Vlah's campaign treasurer during the 2019 Bashkan elections. Her mother, Elena Spatarenco, was also documented as a financial donor to Vlah's 2019 campaign.
Several monitoring activities conducted by non-governmental organizations, such as the Independent Journalism Center, have previously shown that the gagauzinfo.md website favored Irina Vlah when she was bashkan. Currently, the site publishes multiple news stories based on Irina Vlah's political statements, often containing accusations against the current government, without offering the right of reply.
Independent investigations have identified gagauzinfo.md as a source of misleading and false information, suggesting the website is under Irina Vlah's influence, who reportedly controls several media outlets. The portal has also been noted for its supportive coverage of former Moldovan President Igor Dodon.
The website focuses on sociopolitical news coverage of both the Gagauz region and broader Moldova.
Key Facts
| Audience Share | Missing Data |
|---|---|
| Ownership Type | Private |
| Geographic Coverage | Transnational |
| Content Type | Free |
| Active Disguise | in addition to unavailability of true data, ownership is disguised, e. g. through bogus companies, etc. |
| Media Companies / Groups | Iusivmedia |
Ownership
| Ownership Structure | The Gagauzinfo.MD portal is owned by Iusivmedia LLC, with Iulia Spatarenco (Cîlcic) as its official owner. However, multiple journalistic investigations have revealed that Iulia Spatarenco is actually a proxy, and the site is controlled by Irina Vlah, the former Bashkan (Governor) of the Autonomous Territorial Unit of Gagauzia in Moldova. |
|---|---|
| Individual Owner |
Media Companies / Groups
Facts
| Founding Year | 2008 |
|---|---|
| CEO | Iulia Spatarenco Iulia Spatarenco (Cîlcic) is not a professional journalist and does not own any other companies. She has been reported in the media to have a close relationship with Irina Vlah, the former Bashkan of the autonomous region of Gagauzia. Vlah ran for the position of president of the Republic of Moldova, in the election of October 20, 2024, and obtained a result of 5.38%. According to several journalistic investigations, Spatarenco served as Irina Vlah's treasurer during the 2019 electoral campaign for the Bashkan position. Additionally, Spatarenco's mother, Elena Spatarenco, is listed among Irina Vlah's donors for the 2019 election campaign. An investigation by the Nokta.md portal revealed that Irina Vlah is also the godmother of Yulia Spatarenco's marriage. Monitoring conducted by non-governmental organizations indicated that the gagauzinzinfo.md portal favoured Irina Vlah during her time as Bashkan. Currently, the website publishes numerous news items related to Irina Vlah's political statements, often including accusations against the current government, without providing an opportunity for rebuttal. Moreover, gagauzinzinfo.md is among the websites that spread false and manipulative information. According to various press investigations, it is allegedly controlled by Irina Vlah, who oversees several media resources. Iulia Spatarenco's husband, Vladimir Cîlcic, served as the director of GRT, the public broadcaster in the Gagauz region, from 2016 until his dismissal in 2018. He was also the administrator of a local TV and radio station in Gagauzia (Radio Albena and STV television), which were allegedly controlled by Irina Vlah. Iulia Spatarenco is listed as the founder, owner, and administrator of the company Iusivmedia SRL, which held the broadcasting license for a radio station, Radio Sud. The station was launched in December 2020 but is now surrendering its broadcasting license. In August 2022, the Broadcasting Council approved Iusivmedia SRL's request to withdraw the license for Radio Sud. Some of these media outlets reportedly received funding from Gagauzia's budget for live broadcasting services and subsidies from the Entrepreneurs Support Fund. According to a journalistic investigation by the Nokta portal, journalists employed by the Gagauz executive were allegedly working at these media outlets. Iusivmedia SRL also managed the website vfokuse.md, which is no longer updated with news. |
| Other Important People | Vladimir Cîlcic Vladimir Cîlcic is Iulia Spatarenco's husband. He served as director of GRT, the public television station in the Gagauz region, having been appointed to this position in 2016 through the influence of Irina Vlah, who was the Governor (Bashkan) of the region at that time, according to local Gagauz media. In 2018, he was temporarily removed from this position, reinstated in 2019, and subsequently resigned in 2020. He also managed Radio Albena and STV television, which, like Gagauzinfo.md, were reportedly controlled by Irina Vlah. Between 2011 and 2016, Cîlcic worked as a sales manager at Moldtelecom, a state-owned fixed-line, mobile, and internet operator. |
| Contact | str. Drujbî, 2A Comrat red@gagauzinfo.md +373 68 040 140 |
| Revenue | MDL 296 thousand / USD 16,3 thousand (2023) |
|---|---|
| Operating Profit | MDL -43 thousand / USD -2,4 thousand (2023) |
| Advertising (in % of total funding) | Missing Data |
| Market Share | Missing Data |