Elections were held in Ustia village (Glodeni district), Natalievca commune (Falesti district), Kremenchug commune (Soroca district), Bascalia village (Basarabeasca district), Călinesti commune (Falesti district) and Leova town. New local councils were also elected in Călinesti commune and Leova town, the first localities in the country to go through the amalgamation process. In summer, the Parliament amended the annex to the Law on the administrative-territorial organization of the Republic of Moldova.
Thus, the villages of Sirma, Toquile-Raducani and Serata-Razeset joined the city of Leova. As a result of amalgamation, the population of the city increased from 5,475 to 7,791. The amalgamation incentive package includes an initial transfer of 400 thousand lei for the preparation of technical documentation, 12 million lei for infrastructure development, and an annual additional funding of 2 million lei for the modernization of public services. The election of Leova mayor was won by the representative of the League of Cities and Communes (LOC) party, former mayor Alexandru Bujorean. This party will also have a majority in the council.
Călinesti commune (Făleşti district) was merged with the settlements of Ketris and Hînceşti. The new administrative unit has 4,021 inhabitants. The incentive package includes 400,000 lei for technical documentation, 5 million lei for infrastructure development – partly aimed at co-financing the water supply system – as well as 1.3 million lei annually in the form of non-earmarked additional financing until 2030. Independent candidate Alla Prokopciuc won the most votes in the Călinesti commune in Sunday’s elections.
As previously reported Logos Press, the process of voluntary unification of mayoralties (amalgamation) started at the end of 2024 and is considered as an intermediate stage of the administrative-territorial reform, which the authorities plan to complete by 2030.
In other localities, the winners of the mayoral elections were: in Bascalia village – independent candidate Ion Bordan, in Natalievca commune – PSRM candidate Victor Sandu, in Kremenchug village – PSRM candidate Igor Chirica, in Ustia village – candidate of the Party of Development and Unification of Moldova (PDCM) Alexandru Cojocari.
For the November 16 elections, the Central Electoral Commission printed 38,975 ballots: 34,397 in Romanian and 4,578 in Russian. A total of 8,836 voters exercised their right to vote, or 39.06%.
