The Central Election Commission (CEC) of Moldova decided on August 3 to exclude four parties from the list of those eligible to participate in the parliamentary elections on September 28. These include the “Alternative Forces for the Salvation of Moldova”, the “Chance” Party, and the “Victory” Party, which are part of the pro-Russian Victory bloc, close to convicted fugitive oligarch Ilan Shor.
This is reported by the Newsmaker publication.
CEC published a list of parties eligible to participate in the parliamentary elections on July 14. The institution explained that before the elections, parties must submit to the State Services Agency a list of members of central executive bodies — chairmen, vice-chairmen, and members — under the law on the declaration of assets and personal interests.
CEC reported that out of 66 registered parties as of July 14, 2025, only 25 had submitted the required information. Another 14 parties submitted requests for data updates, which are currently being reviewed by the State Services Agency. At the time, CEC reported that three parties — “Chance”, “Force of Alternative and Salvation of Moldova”, and “Revival” — have ongoing legal disputes regarding restrictions on activities or dissolution.
The Commission decided to include these 14 parties on the list of participants in the elections on September 28, 2025, but the right to participate will be revoked unless the Public Services Agency issues a positive administrative act or there is a final court decision to dissolve or restrict the activities of these parties.
Thus, four parties were excluded on August 3 due to the decision of the Public Services Agency to deny them registration of data changes in the State Register of Legal Entities.
- The “Alternative Forces for the Salvation of Moldova”, the “Chance” party, and the “Victory” party are part of the “Victory” bloc, which was created in Moscow in April 2024. The “Victory” members are linked to fugitive oligarch Ilan Shor, who was sentenced to 15 years in prison in Moldova.
- The Chisinau Court of Appeal ruled on July 31 that the Victory bloc will not participate in the parliamentary elections. More precisely, the court upheld the CECʼs decision that denied the “Victory” bloc registration in the September 28 parliamentary elections.
- CEC also appealed to the Ministry of Justice with a request to restrict the activities of the "Forces of Alternative and Salvation of Moldova".
- Moldovan President Maja Sandu said on July 30 that Russia is preparing unprecedented interference in the parliamentary elections in Moldova, scheduled for September.
- Sandu reported that the Kremlin is investing in several political projects to get its people into the next parliament. All of these projects are coordinated from one center and are largely financed through the schemes of Ilan Shor, the leader of the pro-Russian “Shor” party, who is suspected of attempting a coup. In particular, according to Sandu, Russia is trying to bribe voters. About €100 million is planned to be channeled through cryptocurrency alone.
- This is not the first time Russia has attempted to influence Moldovaʼs political system. In October 2024, Moldovan Deputy Prime Minister Cristina Gherasimov said that Russia had invested almost €100 million in attempts to disrupt the presidential elections and the referendum on EU accession.
For more news and in-depth stories from Ukraine, please follow us on X.