“Emotions are very positive because good news came from Brussels – we have been praised for the progress made in a very difficult time for our country,” Alexandru Munteanu said, opening his first meeting. He specified that “we should enjoy this moment of joy, but we have a lot of work ahead of us. The euphoria did not last long”.
The first appointments in state institutions were also made.
“We always start with a team,” Munteanu said and announced the appointment of Alexei Buzu as secretary general of the government. He outlined two key priorities: administrative-territorial reform and a “small reform” to improve digitalization processes.
Alexandru Iacub was dismissed from the post of head of the Customs Service and appointed as deputy to Alexei Buzu, with whom he previously worked at the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection. The new head of the Customs Service is Radu Vrabie, who has 20 years of managerial experience in the private sector and has participated in projects to modernize the customs system.
The executive director of the Congress of Local Authorities of Moldova (CALM), Viorel Furdui, noted the institutional memory within the territorial-administrative reform and asked the new government to take their opinion into account.
“We have already carried out reforms and must learn from mistakes. It will be extremely important to involve as many actors as possible so that this reform becomes a common product – so that those for whom the reform is being carried out are part of the process. This concept that will be developed should be ours to share, and foreign experts should only help us,” said Furduy.
He asked the new ministers to find ways to establish connections and cooperation mechanisms in their agenda: “We have a lot of work to do, and in particular we want to start with the Ministry of Finance, because the most problems have accumulated there.”
