Victor Bogatko, Ion Kojokar
These conclusions unambiguously indicate the need for an early administrative-territorial reform (ATR) to optimize the activities of local authorities and improve their efficiency. However, there are different, sometimes diametrically opposed, opinions in society about what exactly this reform should be.
Get rid of “princely courts”
The local public administration of the first level – mayoralties – is characterized by fragmentation and a very large number (almost 90%) of small administrative-territorial units (ATU). For every 100,000 inhabitants there are 36.3 ATU, which is higher than in the most fragmented European countries. And the second level – districts – has been called a “legacy” of Soviet administrative structures, the initial purpose of which was to exercise ideological, political and economic control in the context of a planned economy and a state with a single political party.
Victor Bogatko, the mayor of Riscani, calls district councils “princely courts” that distribute their remaining funds according to the principle of “who is closer” to the chairman of the district or to the majority in the council.
“This is especially frustrating for the resident towns, the district centers, because part of the funds they collect goes to maintain district structures. Only one-quarter of the income tax stays with the mayor’s office, another quarter goes to the borough council, and 50 percent is taken by the state. An average district center, like Riscani, gives about 15 million lei collected on the territory of the city to the district council. And often this money is not returned to us. We don’t demand everything – at least part of it! The district councils decide everything. And if the mayor of the city is in opposition to the district council, he almost never receives anything,” Victor Bogatko said for Logos Press.
According to him, such an unfair system of income distribution prevents cities from developing:
“We collect money, we form the budget, we create jobs, stimulate the economy, attract investors – and the more we create, the more they take from us. After all, 50% of personal income tax goes to the center. Abolishing the district councils and transferring the funds directly to the mayor’s office would help correct the situation. If we take into account that all district councils spend about 1 billion lei per year (this figure was announced around 2020), and we have about a thousand mayoralties, approximate calculations show that each mayor’s office could receive about 1 million lei per year. Then we wouldn’t have to wait for 100-200 thousand lei “handouts from the bar’s shoulder” and depend on it”.
Ion Cojocari, vice-chairman of Glodeni district, agrees that there are too many districts in the country, but notes that there are problems that need to be solved right now. According to him, the reform without decentralization and revision of budget financing principles is ineffective and will lead to worsening of citizens’ access to services.
“I have the impression that with this reform they are trying to consolidate power in the centers of government. I have not seen concrete figures and costs associated with this reform, and whether we like it or not, its success depends on them. I say frankly – and I can argue that – this reform will not lead to financial savings. Moreover, good reforms are expensive. If we want strong local government, we need to at least triple the funding for infrastructure projects. Without finances, the reform will remain only on paper, and citizens will experience discomfort due to the deterioration of access to public services. Yes, we can admit that we have too many districts, i.e. second-tier local governments, but we also have a lot of problems that need to be solved right now. We need to implement regional infrastructure projects: roads, water supply and sewerage, tourism, educational and social infrastructure. Who will do this at the regional and inter-municipal level?”, asks Ion Cojocari.
He emphasizes that the district councils have qualified specialists who should be actively involved in the implementation of infrastructure projects. Only after the order is restored in this sphere can we move to consolidation and restructuring. He warns that in case of unsuccessful or hasty reform, citizens will suffer first of all – it will become more difficult for them to receive public services. Therefore, such key issues as construction of roads between villages, procurement of transport for transportation of people, digitalization of services and informing the population should be solved before or in parallel with the reform.
“Secondary effect” of optimization
Central authorities recognize the need to adjust the budget management system and move towards a more efficient structure. Alexandru Munteanu, a candidate for prime minister, has already taken the baton in promoting the APR. At the same time, he emphasizes that change does not necessarily have to be accompanied by upheaval: “If we really want to join the European Union, we need to improve the system of governance – including territorial governance. But such reforms do not necessarily have to be painful,” he said in an interview on TV8. Finance Minister in Recean’s government Viktorija Belous said that the goal of the reforms is not to save money, but to improve the quality of services for citizens, while “savings and cost optimization are a secondary effect.”
This is how the process of “amalgamation” – unification and enlargement of villages – began painlessly and voluntarily as the first step towards a broader administrative-territorial reform. It is based on the European model and has already been tried out in our neighbors. Ukraine went through a similar process in 2020, completing a large-scale reform that created territorial communities (gromads) as the basic units of local self-government. This reform was part of the decentralization process and led to the consolidation of districts and reduction of their number.
Some localities have already passed this way and are preparing for new elections. For example, the Călinesti municipality of the Făleşti district will include the Ketris commune and the village of Hînceşti after the merger. On November 16, new mayoral elections will be held here. Three candidates are running for the position of mayor of the renewed ATE, two of whom previously headed the mayoralties of the merging villages.
Today, more than 220 ATEs are involved in the voluntary unification process at one stage or another – a corresponding interactive map describing the stage of the process is available on a special website. According to the latest data, there are final decisions on only two reorganization projects. At the government meeting on June 18, 2025, the draft law on the administrative-territorial reorganization, as a result of the process of voluntary unification at the local level, of the city of Leova by merging it with the villages of Sirma, Toquile-Reducani and Serata-Răzesti, as well as the aforementioned commune of Călinesti was approved.
When interim reports on the implementation of the reform were conducted, it turned out that a significant number of mayors have not yet been able to identify neighboring territories ready to participate in the process. This is despite all the support and explanations from the authorities. The reform was based on four key principles that were supposed to work, according to the authorities: voluntariness, accessibility of public services, transparency of decision-making and financial benefits.
The latter include, firstly, targeted transfers for the preparation of voluntary association processes. They depend on the total population of the future united unit: the larger the population, the higher the maximum amount – from 100 thousand to 1 million lei. Secondly, targeted transfers for infrastructure development – depend on the population and the number of united territories and are used for capital investments, repairs, purchase of equipment and transport within the framework of the legislation in force; unused funds are carried over to the next year. And thirdly, general transfers of the united ATUs – allocated according to population (100-200 lei per person, minimum 300 thousand lei, maximum 2 million lei), recalculated when new territories are annexed and spent by local councils according to priorities.
Artur Mizha, former secretary general of the government, who supervised the launch of the program and presented the draft law on voluntary unification in 2023, stressed then: “The ATU voluntary amalgamation process will take into account the historical, natural, ethnic and cultural characteristics of the communities, as well as factors affecting their socio-economic development. In two or three years, we will summarize the results of the process and will be able to assess its effectiveness. But in the government we are optimistic”.
Today’s results speak for themselves.
Voluntary unification of mayoralties is seen as an intermediate stage of the APR, which the authorities plan to complete by 2030. But for this to happen, political and state interests must go hand in hand, and the authorities must listen and hear the people, at least as it happens in election campaigns. And the new government will also be expected – both by local authorities and the country’s citizens – to have a clear understanding of the processes underway, which today often look fragmented, unclear and inconsistent.
