Dumitru Alaiba
At Thursday’s plenary session, the parliament recognized the vacancy of the position of NBM Supervisory Board member, held by Dumitru Ursu. Following the recommendation of the relevant parliamentary commission, the lawmakers voted in favor of Dumitru Alaiba’s candidacy.
The decision was supported by 56 out of 61 PAS deputies present in the plenary session hall.
Olesia Stamate, a former PAS deputy, recalled that, according to the law on the NBM, the candidate for the position of member of the Supervisory Council should have at least 10 years of experience in the financial, legal or auditing field, or hold a scientific or academic position in one of these fields. Which, according to her, is not present in Alaiba’s biography.
Radu Marian, chairman of the specialized commission, listed that Alaiba was a minister, a member of the National Council for Financial Stability, a deputy and chairman of a parliamentary commission, an adviser to the prime minister and a program director at an NGO.
“By doing so, you are equating the field of finance with the field of economy. From my point of view, they are not exactly the same thing,” Stamate replied.
The situation with Alaiba’s appointment reminds a lot of the story with former Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilita. Before her departure, she sought an appointment to the NBM Supervisory Board. According to some sources, Alaiba, in turn, aspired to the post of ambassador to the USA. However, the president was strongly opposed to his candidacy and, as a result, Vladislav Kulminski was appointed ambassador. The NBM considers the appointment to the Supervision Council as a kind of compromise – a kind of “compensation” for Alaiba for the failed ambassadorial post.
When he was the chairman of the parliamentary commission for economy, budget and finance, Dumitru Alaiba is remembered for the key role he played in promoting a number of appointments to various state institutions. One of his protégés is Vitalie Lemne, current member of the Supervisory Board of the NBM and former vice chairman of the National Commission of Financial Market.
In his new position, Dumitru Alaiba promised to “ensure quality supervision of the National Bank”: “The financial sector has gone through massive changes over the last decade. We have a resilient and transparent financial sector, and now is the time to strengthen and develop it to drive the modernization of the banking and non-banking financial sector, as well as the insurance industry, and to continue investing in new products and services.”
