While preserving its character of a unitary State, the Republic of Moldova has, since the breakup of the Soviet Union, striven to improve the fiscal relations among the State and the subnational levels of government on the bases of autonomy, legality and cooperation principles.1 Since 1996 the budgetary system consolidates the self-governing territorial units as autonomous entities.2 Moreover, in 1997 the Parliament formally adopted the conventions of the European Charter of Self Local Governments, and since 1998 the law on local public administration and territorial reform discontinued the previous Soviet administration structure of rayons.



Working Paper Number 02-22