Alexey Buzu
“The main goal is to create developed localities, strong mayoralties and better services for people. We recognize the complexity of the reform and understand that it is natural to be concerned about it. That is why it is so important to carry out these changes jointly, responsibly, in order to improve the living standards of all people – both in remote villages and in big cities,” Buzu said.
The preparation of the reform will take place in four stages: broad public consultations, presentation of the concept, discussions with citizens throughout the spring and development of a legislative package for adoption in parliament in the fall.
“The villages will remain and the mayoralties will merge, with the merged mayoralties creating service centers where local residents will be able to receive documents through a ‘single window’. In these centers will work social assistant, social workers, assigned police officer and community worker,” – said Alexei Buzu.
Recall that at the end of 2024, the authorities launched the process of voluntary association – “amalgamation”. However, it is moving forward with difficulty: since then, only three villages from the Călinesti commune (Făleşti district) have been voluntarily united, while the villages of Sîrma, Toquile-Răducan and Serata-Răzesti have joined the city of Leova.
How the newly announced reform will be correlated with the old one is still unclear. And in this multitude of reform initiatives, it is especially difficult for local self-governments to navigate.
According to local government representatives, quality reforms require significant expenditures. And if the government wants a strong local self-government, it should increase the financing of infrastructure projects.
It is worth noting that the Congress of Local Authorities of Moldova (CALM), the largest association of mayors, advocates “municipalization” – giving all district centers the status of a municipality.
