Radio Moldova
Radio Moldova is the national public radio station with nationwide coverage, being a structure of "Teleradio Moldova" Company.
The station has a generalist format, with several departments producing news, current affairs programs, cultural, educational, entertainment programs for children and youth, as well as sports content.
According to "Teleradio-Moldova" Company's website, Radio Moldova originated in 1930, when the Radio Broadcasting of the Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (MASSR, currently the Transnistrian region of Moldova) was established in Balta city on the left bank of the Dniester, then part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. The station was engaged in promoting Soviet policies in the former MASSR territory.
However, in a more recent article published on Radio Moldova's page in November 2023, it's noted that Soviet historiography linked Radio Moldova's beginnings to the left bank station from 1930, but in reality, the first radio signals reached the current territory of Moldova in 1928, with the establishment of Bucharest radio (Romania). The article also references Radio Chisinau or Radio Basarabia, of the Romanian Broadcasting Society, opened in Chisinau in October 1939, as being part of Radio Moldova's history. This station operated for only 300 days, with transmission stopping when Soviets occupied Bessarabia on June 28, 1940. The station was taken over by Soviet power, and a year later its building was blown up by the Soviets when they withdrew from this territory.
From September 1944, after the Soviets returned to Bessarabia, Moldovan Broadcasting resumed its activity and functioned as a mouthpiece of communist power until Moldova declared independence from the Soviet Union.
With Moldova's declaration of independence in 1991, Radio Moldova remained a state institution, and then became public in 2004, along with the Public Institution "Teleradio-Moldova" Company, of which it is part.
Key Facts
| Audience Share | 2,4% |
|---|---|
| Ownership Type | Public |
| Geographic Coverage | National |
| Content Type | Free |
| Active Transparency | company/channel informs proactively and comprehensively about its ownership, data is constantly updated and easily verifiable |
| Media Companies / Groups | Teleradio-Moldova (TRM) |
Ownership
| Ownership Structure | Radio Moldova is part of the Public Institution "Teleradio-Moldova" Company (TRM), founded by the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova. The activities of the public company are overseen by the Supervisory and Development Board, which consists of seven members appointed by the Parliament for a single six-year term. Three members are proposed by the parliamentary factions, reflecting the proportional representation of both the majority and the opposition. The remaining four members are nominated by representative civil society organizations. The Council is responsible for approving the company's statute, operational regulations, budget amendments, and for proposing candidates for the position of general director to the Parliament. The company is managed by a general director who is elected by the Parliament. This director serves a non-renewable seven-year term, with operational oversight provided by the Management Committee, led by the general director. This governance structure was established by legislation adopted in November 2021, when the Parliament was dominated by a single political party, the Action and Solidarity Party (PAS). The legislation reinstated parliamentary control over the TRM company, as it had been prior to 2019. In 2019, the law had been amended to place "Teleradio-Moldova" under the oversight of the Broadcasting Coordinating Council, with the general director selected through a competitive process. Following the legislative amendments in 2021, the mandates of the existing members of the Supervisory and Development Council, as well as the general director and deputy directors of "Teleradio-Moldova," were terminated. This allowed the Action and Solidarity Party (PAS), then in power, to change the leadership of the public institution. This shift has faced criticism from some media experts. PAS deputy Liliana Nicolaescu-Onofrei, president of the parliamentary committee for mass media, stated that by the end of 2025, the parliamentary majority would revise the procedures for selecting and appointing members of the Supervisory and Development Council, as well as the management of TRM. |
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| Individual Owner |
Media Companies / Groups
Facts
| Founding Year | 1930 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Broadcasting of the Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (M.A.S.S.R.) Broadcasting of the Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (M.A.S.S.R.) was part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. |
| CEO | Vlad Țurcanu Vlad Țurcanu is a journalist by profession who has also been involved in public service and political activities. In December 2021, he was elected as the general director of the Public Institution "Teleradio-Moldova" (TRM) Company. For a single seven-year term, he was nominated by TRM's Supervisory and Development Council and approved by the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova. He began his journalistic career at Radio Moldova in 1992, which was then a state radio station and is now a public broadcaster. During his time there he worked as a reporter, editor and editor-in-chief of Youth Reaction. Since 1994, he has been a presenter and producer of entertainment programmes on Moldova 1. From 2000 to 2004, he worked as a reporter for Radio Europa Liberă. From 2006 to 2008, he was a member of the Audiovisual Coordination Council. From 2010 to 2011, he was deputy director of MIR TV, an international television network created in 1992 by the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). From 2011 to 2012, he was editor-in-chief of Radio Chisinau, а media outlet of the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Society. Vlad Țurcanu was Nicolae Timofti's adviser and spokesman from 2012 to 2016. He resigned in January 2016 following the swearing in of a new government led by Pavel Filip, which took place without prior announcement. Țurcanu later stated that he had misinformed the media, not being aware of the facts. After resignation, he returned to journalism at Radio Chisinau from 2016 to 2019 as a political commentator. During this time, he also served as a project coordinator and media content evaluator at the Soros Moldova Foundation. In 2019, Țurcanu became the leader of the Liberal Reform Party, which was later renamed the Romanian People's Party, advocating for the union of the Republic of Moldova with Romania. He ran for mayor of Chisinau in 2019 but garnered only 0.81% of the vote. He resigned as party leader at the end of the year. He then joined the National Unity Party (PUN) as a member and first vice-president, but he left the party and withdrew from politics in November 2020. Since then, he has made several public and media appearances as a political commentator. He holds a degree in Journalism and Communication Sciences from the State University of Moldova. Cornel Ciobanu Cornel Ciobanu is a professional journalist who has served as Director of Radio Moldova and Deputy General Director of "Teleradio-Moldova" since March 2022, initially joining as Director of the News Department. Prior to this, he spent over a decade (2011-2022) at Radio Chisinau, a subsidiary of Romania's public radio broadcasting company. He also worked as Chisinau correspondent for Romania's national press agency, Agerpres (2008-2014), and as a reporter for Info-Prim Neo Press Agency (2003-2008). His media experience includes reporting for the europa.md portal (2006-2009) and producing "The Spirit of Law" show for the Electronic Press Association (2006-2007). Throughout his career, he has contributed to various media projects as a journalist, media expert, and trainer. Ciobanu holds a bachelor's degree in public communication and journalism from Moldova State University's Faculty of Journalism and Communication Sciences. |
| Editor-In-Chief | Cornel Ciobanu Cornel Ciobanu is a professional journalist who has served as Director of Radio Moldova and Deputy General Director of "Teleradio-Moldova" since March 2022, initially joining as Director of the News Department. Prior to this, he spent over a decade (2011-2022) at Radio Chisinau, a subsidiary of Romania's public radio broadcasting company. He also worked as Chisinau correspondent for Romania's national press agency, Agerpres (2008-2014), and as a reporter for Info-Prim Neo Press Agency (2003-2008). His media experience includes reporting for the europa.md portal (2006-2009) and producing "The Spirit of Law" show for the Electronic Press Association (2006-2007). Throughout his career, he has contributed to various media projects as a journalist, media expert, and trainer. Ciobanu holds a bachelor's degree in public communication and journalism from Moldova State University's Faculty of Journalism and Communication Sciences. |
| Other Important People | Arcadie Gherasim Arcadie Gherasim, the president of the Supervisory and Development Council (CSD), is a journalist by profession. He began his career in 1979 as a correspondent for the then state-owned "Teleradio-Moldova". Over the years, he has served as section head, deputy editor-in-chief and editor-in-chief of the news department at Radio Moldova. From 1999 to 2000, he was Director General of TV Moldova. From 2001 to 2006, he was the general producer of Euro TV Chisinau, a public channel owned by the municipality of Chisinau and later privatised. From 2008 to 2011, he was deputy editor-in-chief of the newspaper "Timpul", and from 2015 to 2016, he was programme director at the television station "Vocea Basarabiei". He is also a lecturer at the Department of Journalism and Communication at the State University of Moldova. Sergiu Stanciu Sergiu Stanciu, the CSD secretary, has held several management positions in public and media institutions. He was the general director of Radio Chisinau from 2011 to 2013 and served as deputy minister in the Ministry of Youth and Sports from 2013 to 2015. Later, he became the director of the Labor Institute, an educational center of the National Confederation of Trade Unions of Moldova. Since 2019, he has been the general director of the General Directorate for the Administration of Government Buildings of the Republic of Moldova and, since 2021, the deputy director of the National Museum of Literature "Mihail Kogălniceanu." Additionally, since 2019, he has served as an interim administrator at Arena Chisinau, and in September 2024, he was elected as the director with a full mandate following a competition held by the Public Property Agency. In the local elections of 2023, he ran for mayor of the Municipality of Orhei on behalf of the ruling Action and Solidarity Party. He holds a bachelor's degree in graphic design from the University of Art and Design Cluj-Napoca in Romania. Corneliu Popovici Corneliu Popovici served as the Minister of Education, Culture, and Research in the government led by Ion Chicu from 2019 to 2020. During his tenure, he became the subject of jokes after slurring his speech at a meeting with students and addressing judges, prosecutors, and lawyers. Additionally, when employees from several theaters complained about not receiving their salaries, Popovici remarked, "The artist must be hungry." Before and after his ministerial role, Popovici worked as an advisor on education, culture, and research for former President Igor Dodon. He was also a member of the Supreme Security Council and the president of the National Heraldic Commission during Dodon's administration. Currently, he serves as the vice-rector at the "IMI-NOVA" International Management Institute and as a commentator with anti-European messages for the websites noi.md and moldovenii.md, owned by Vasili Chirtoca. Aurelian Dănilă Aurelian Dănilă is a former diplomat of the Republic of Moldova and the former USSR, a habilitated doctor in the study of arts, a university professor and musician. He is currently a researcher at the Academy of Sciences of Moldova. Between 1988-1992 he was a cultural attaché at the Soviet Embassy in Bucharest and Consul General of the USSR in Iași. He served as ambassador of the Republic of Moldova in Bucharest from 1992 to 1994, in Austria from 1994 to 1995, and in Germany from 1997 to 2001, while also covering Sweden and Denmark. Between 2015 and 2016, he was the First Secretary of the Embassy of the Republic of Moldova in Kyiv. He was president of the Union of Musicians from Moldova from 2012 to 2017 and taught at the Academy of Music, Theater, and Fine Arts. Irina Maţenko Irina Mațenko is a journalist and deputy editor-in-chief at the economic magazine "Logos Press," where she has worked since 1998. She has also been teaching at the Faculty of Journalism and Communication Sciences at the State University of Moldova since 2003. Maria Şleahtiţchi Maria Şleahtiţchi is the Director General of the National Museum of Romanian Literature, subordinate to the Ministry of Culture. She is a writer and a scientific researcher in the field of philology, holding doctoral and post-doctoral studies. She is a member of the Writers' Union of the Republic of Moldova and the Writers' Union of Romania. |
| Contact | IP Compania „Teleradio-Moldova" str. Mioriţa, 1 MD-2028 Chişinău radiomoldova@trm.md 022 723 347, 022 721 347 |
| Revenue | Missing Data |
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| Operating Profit | Missing Data |
| Advertising (in % of total funding) | Missing Data |
| Market Share | Missing Data |