The Recean government has three new ministers. They are Andrei Spînu, Minister of Infrastructure and Regional Development, Dan Perciun, Minister of Education and Research, and Adrian Efros, Minister of Internal Affairs. Ziarul de Gardă has analysed the declarations of wealth and personal interests of the new ministers and presents the most relevant information.

Dan Perciun, the new Minister of Education and Research, holds a degree in political science, psychology and sociology from the University of Cambridge, UK. Until now he was a member of the Moldovan Parliament from the PAS faction, a position he has held since 2019. From 2021 to the present he has held the position of Chairman of the Social Protection, Health and Family Committee. According to a PAS information note, Dan Perciun participated in the creation of the compensation mechanism and the creation of the Energy Vulnerability Fund, the drafting of the new Labour Code and the reform of the social assistance system “RESTART”, the Family Programme.

According to his declaration of assets and personal interests for 2022, Dan Perciun collected last year a net salary of 173 108 lei from the Moldovan Parliament, but also 248 050 lei in the form of “non-taxable allowances for transport and for the performance of official duties, including the salary of an assistant”. Also last year, Dan Perciun received £3000 from his father as a donation.

The Minister for Education and Research owns 1/2 of a 78.2 square metre apartment worth an estimated 480,000 lei and 1/2 of a 78.2 square metre apartment worth an estimated 630,000 lei.

Adrian Efros, the new Minister of Internal Affairs, previously served as head of the Logistics Directorate of the Grand Staff of the National Army. According to President Maia Sandu, he has extensive experience in the field of security and peacekeeping and has been “a very good coordinator of the Single Crisis Management Centre (CUGC) after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and especially the management of the refugee crisis” over the past two years. Adrian Efros has participated in peacekeeping missions.

According to his most recent declaration of assets and personal interests, Adrian Efros has collected in 2022 a salary of 389 307 lei from the Grand Staff of the National Army. The Efros family owns two pieces of agricultural land, a plot of land, a house of 100.3 square meters, which would be worth 40 594 lei. In 2021, the Efros family acquired a Skoda Fabia car that would be worth 5500 euros.

Adrian Efros came to public attention after he gave a speech at the national assembly “Moldova Europeană” on 21 May 2023. He declared that “for our children, for our parents, for our homes, let us unite and go on a path of democracy, let us take Moldova to the European Union”.

“I am a military engineer by profession and together with my colleagues I have participated and defused thousands of explosive objects in villages and towns of Moldova. I participated with my colleagues in international peacekeeping missions in Kosovo, Iraq. I know and know the price of peace. Peace is priceless and it is the duty of all of us to provide our children with a secure environment at home (…)”, said Adrian Efros.

Andrei Spînu returned to the helm of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Regional Development after almost six months. He was part of the Gavrilița government, which announced its resignation on 10 February 2023. Until now Andrei Spînu has held the position of Secretary General of the Moldovan President’s Apparatus, a position he also held in 2020.

In 2019 he was Secretary General of the Government of Moldova and in 2015-2016 he was Deputy Minister of Youth and Sport. He is an IT entrepreneur and co-founder of the entrepreneurship development organizations Dreamups Innovation Campus and JCI Chisinau. Andrei Spînu holds a degree in business and business administration.

Previously, rise.md wrote that Spînu juggled for years with several companies, including offshore ones, and that he allegedly admitted an incompatibility of office while he was deputy minister of youth and sports in 2015-2016.

According to his declaration of wealth and personal interests, in 2022, Andrei Spînu collected 359,577 lei from the Ministry of Infrastructure and Regional Development as salary and reimbursement of business travel costs abroad. He received income from dividends from WUPP LTD (Andrei Spînu is the owner of this company, editor’s note) amounting to 119 831 euros and 3989 lei from other sources.

The Spînu family owns four pieces of farmland and two intra-village plots, 50% of a 125.2 square metre house worth an estimated 4 720 000 lei. The Spînu family owns an Audi Q5 car, said to be worth 380 000 lei, and a Volkswagen Tiguan car said to be worth 27 000.

On Monday, July 17, the swearing-in ceremony of the new members of the Government led by Dorin Recean took place at the Presidency. Dan Perciun was sworn in as Minister of Education and Research, Andrei Spînu – as Minister of Infrastructure and Regional Development, and Adrian Efros – as Minister of Internal Affairs. President Maia Sandu subsequently signed the decrees.

During the swearing-in ceremony of the Minister of Education and Research, the Minister of Infrastructure and Regional Development and the Minister of Interior Affairs, the head of state said that as of today, three important portfolios, three important areas of governance – education and research, internal affairs, regional development and infrastructure – are the responsibility of the new ministers.

“We have high expectations here, and so do the citizens. These are important areas, as I said earlier. We have to succeed in tackling the current problems, we have to succeed in transforming the areas that you will administer from today onwards, and we have to succeed together in making enough reforms to be able to meet our medium-term goal of joining the European Union by 2030. And each of the areas you lead have very concrete and important responsibilities on this path,” said President Maia Sandu.

On Friday 14 July, Prime Minister Dorin Recean announced that three ministers have resigned. They are Education Minister Anatolie Topala, Interior Minister Ana Revenco and Infrastructure and Regional Development Minister Lilia Dabija.