Here is the English translation of the text:
On July 28, 2026, the National Anti-Doping Agency (ANAD) hosted the first ordinary meeting of the Council for the Prevention and Countering of Illicit Trafficking of Doping Substances. The meeting took place in the institution’s conference room (180 Ștefan cel Mare și Sfânt Blvd., 7th floor, Chisinau municipality) and brought together representatives from the Council’s seven member institutions.
The meeting was organized pursuant to Law No. 174 of June 27, 2025, on the prevention and countering of illicit trafficking of doping substances—the normative act establishing the Council and defining its duties—as well as Law No. 24/2023 on the prevention and countering of doping in sports, the Regulation on the organization and functioning of the National Anti-Doping Agency, approved by Government Decision No. 665 of September 6, 2023, and Law No. 110/2025 on physical education and sports, in compliance with World Anti-Doping Code standards.
Participants representing the Council's member institutions included:
Artiom Jucov, Director General of the National Anti-Doping Agency;
Ion Portnoi, Deputy Head of the Cross-Border Crime Investigation Directorate, and Sergiu Moraru, Head of the Anti-Smuggling Section within the same directorate, representing the General Inspectorate of Border Police;
Ovidiu Partolea, Senior Investigation Officer within Section No. 1 of the Economic Crime Investigation Directorate of the National Investigation Inspectorate, representing the General Inspectorate of Police;
Mariana Jitaru, Head of the Medicines and Medical Devices Directorate, representing the Ministry of Health;
Oleg Costachi, Head of the General Import-Export Directorate of the Medicines and Medical Devices Agency;
Alexandru Todica, Head of the "Center" Investigative Activities Service within the Customs Service; and
Victor Pîslaru, Head of the Medicines, Veterinary, and Animal Feed Control Directorate, representing the National Food Safety Agency.
Additional participants from the National Anti-Doping Agency included Lilia Talmațchi, Head of the Anti-Doping Programs Directorate; Iulia Gîrlea, Head of the Human Resources Department; Rodica Gavriluța and Arian Movileanu, specialists in the Doping Control Officers Service; Marianna Savva, Principal Specialist in the Science, Research, and Development Service; and Sofia Sclifos, intern. Yevghenie Konovalenco, Deputy Director of the National Anti-Doping Agency of Ukraine (NADC), attended the meeting as a guest.
Presentations during the meeting were delivered by Iulia Gîrlea, Head of the Human Resources Department, alongside Rodica Gavriluța and Arian Movileanu, specialists in ANAD’s Doping Control Officers Department. They presented the regulatory framework governing the operation of the Council, which is a permanent inter-institutional advisory body without legal personality, operating under ANAD.
The Council's responsibilities were detailed as follows:
Analyzing implemented measures and identifying dysfunctions;
Harmonizing national legislation with international regulations;
Monitoring the evolution of the phenomenon;
Informing the Government, Parliament, and international bodies;
Preparing the annual report, which is submitted to the Government by April 10 and published on ANAD’s official webpage.
The presentations went on to address the current situation regarding the illicit trafficking of doping substances in the Republic of Moldova, drawing on operational data from the 2024–2025 period and analyses by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). The main risks and vulnerabilities identified were evaluated:
The expansion of recreational doping among youth in the absence of medical evaluation, leading to severe cardiovascular and endocrine consequences;
The emergence of new psychoactive substances and selective androgen receptor modulators (SARMs) that evade prohibition lists through rapid chemical formula modifications;
Hybrid distribution channels through fitness gyms and unregulated online platforms;
The country's positioning along regional transit routes;
The massive flow of small postal parcels;
The lack of a national certification mechanism for dietary supplements, which fosters accidental doping through contamination;
The analytical gap regarding new generations of substances.
Cross-border cooperation with Ukraine was also presented, highlighting joint checkpoints, mixed operational groups, and information exchange supported by the European Union Border Assistance Mission (EUBAM).
During the discussions, Council members agreed on the priority activities for 2026:
Strengthening inter-institutional cooperation mechanisms and best-practice sharing;
Categorizing public communication information into three tiers: media information, social media and online environment information, and internal inter-institutional information, along with establishing criteria for their publication and validation;
Organizing joint prevention and enforcement actions;
Producing and distributing informational materials, such as leaflets, brochures, posters, banners, videos, and commercial spots;
Establishing an anonymous reporting mechanism accessible via QR code, electronic form, and a dedicated email address.
The participation of the Ukrainian National Anti-Doping Agency representative facilitated discussions on bilateral cooperation and the exchange of best practices between the two institutions.
According to its organizational and operational regulations, the Council convenes quarterly in ordinary meetings, with extraordinary meetings called as needed. Council members and the secretary completed the confidentiality and conflict of interest declarations required for the first meeting of each year. The date for the next ordinary meeting was agreed upon mutually.
Through the establishment and operationalization of this Council, ANAD and its partner institutions reaffirm their commitment to acting in a coordinated manner to protect public health and sports integrity by preventing and countering the illicit trafficking of doping substances at the national level.
