If the amendments are adopted in the final reading, it means that a one-vote advantage will actually determine the fate of the settlement. All the deputies were talking about it. The authorities assure that even now the main decisions at the local level, such as the approval of the budget, are made by the same number of votes.
Secretary General of the Government Alexei Buzu promised that the opinion of citizens will still be taken into account:
“We will apply an inclusive process, including consultations with citizens, collecting opinions: we need to make sure that citizens are part of the process.”
Logos Press has already written what the concept of the reform. The minimum threshold of inhabitants of a locality will be 3,000 inhabitants. Out of 32 districts, it is planned to leave 10. The total cost of the unification stimulus package for 2026-2030 is 6,491 billion lei.
Arguing the need for amendments by demographic decline, the law in its current form does not allow to speed up the unification process.
“According to the data for 2024, we have a paradoxical situation: 776 mayoralties have 40% of the country’s population, while 26 mayoralties already have 42% of our citizens,” he said. In settlements with up to 3 thousand inhabitants, the population has decreased by one third.
More than 300 localities have already decided to start the process of unification. But only two clusters have actually gone through the unification procedure. The state increases the financial incentive for unification from 1000 to 3000 lei per inhabitant.
Another argument is the low tax base in the mayoralties. Over the last five years, taking into account inflation, the own revenues of all mayoralties in the country have decreased significantly. In mayoralties with a population of less than 3,000 people, administrative expenses are 4.5 times higher than own revenues.
The mechanism of distribution of individual taxes will be reviewed.
“We consider this aspect as a competitiveness factor: when local authorities have less own revenues, they cannot ensure co-financing of European projects. In the Balkan countries, the national average is about 30% of own revenues, while in Moldova it is only 11%. We have listened to the mayors and we will create a fund through which we will co-finance the projects, in order to encourage the mayoralties to implement such initiatives. Also, we will discuss how we can redistribute indirect taxes, in order to ensure the preservation of local revenues from the local economy,” the government’s secretary-general explained.
According to him, “the cost of inaction is much higher than the cost of reform,” said Buzu although he admitted that it will be difficult: “It is obvious, it will not create results and miracles overnight, but it will create preconditions for development. If the population has decreased by more than half a million in ten years, what will happen in 15 years without intervention?!”
Full details of the public administration reform can be found on the website. You can choose your desired merger option at website.
