The Environmental funds system in Moldova consists of National Environmental Fund and local funds. Over recent years the share of the environmental funds in financing measures aimed to protect the environment has increased significantly due to increased revenues from environmental pollution taxes. The study carried out a comprehensive analysis of the environmental funds system of Moldova, in order to make an assessment of their efficiency and effectiveness. The major topics analysed are legal and institutional framework, governance of the funds, sources of revenues and resource allocation, project selection and transparency. The results show that the funds activity does not meet international good practice, requiring a thorough reform. The main problems are inconsistent regulation of funds and insufficient transparency in decision making,which makes it possible to select projects based on political sympathies and not on efficiency and social impact criteria. Local funds exist more on paper; they are too small to be maintained in its present form. The study advocates for a conceptual revision of the current institutional arragements.

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