Moldova’s new Prime Minister, Ion Chicu, lives in a duplex villa which he shares with his sister and his brother-in-law, while the Minister of Internal Affairs owns a luxurious house, built during the period he was in public office. The house was built when the minister’s parents owned the land and was donated a few months after it was put into operation.

ZdG “X-rayed” the assets of the Chicu Government members, voted by the Socialist Party and the Democratic Party deputies on November 14, 2019.

Prime Minister’s Villa

Prime Minister Ion Chicu lives in a villa located in Durlești, a Chișinău suburb, in the Struguraș complex. It is, in fact, a duplex, which the family of the new prime minister shares with Aliona and Gheorghe Ursoi, his sister and his brother-in-law.

The house has a total surface of 155 square meters and was built in 2014-2015 by Gheorghe Ursoi. In October 2015, following a property sharing agreement, the Chicu family’s share constituted 77.9 square meters, and the family Ursoi received  77.7 square meters.

The house is already supervised by the employees of the State Protection and Security Service, who installed a guard booth in front of it.

Since 2013, the spouses Ion and Aliona Chicu own a plot of land with an area of 6.4 acres in the immediate vicinity of the house. 

The villa was acquired when, according to his CV, he was a consultant in the management of public finances in different projects – the Ministry of Finance, ECORYS or the World Bank. His wife has been a physician in the ultrasound imaging office at the Republican Medical Diagnostic Center for over 20 years.

In the first declaration of wealth and interests for 2017, submitted by Ion Chicu after his return to the public sector, he indicated incomes of around 59,200 dollars from the World Bank.

In November 2017, two years after taking possession of the villa in Durlești, the Chicu family sold a 92 square meter apartment in Chișinău to their son, Ștefan Chicu. 

Ion and Aliona Chicu got the apartment in 2004-2006, following an investment contract, and between 2006-2016 the apartment was pledged for a loan of around 15,000 dollars (260,000 lei) at Moldova-Agroindbank. 

In addition to the villa in Durlești, the Chicu family owns a 640 square meter terrain in the immediate vicinity of the house and two other agricultural lands, as well as a Suzuki Vitara car, manufactured and purchased in 2015. At the same time, Ion Chicu is listed as co-founder of Tandem-Lux and Adamin companies, none of them active.

Ion Chicu worked in the public sector until 2009, a time when he held the position of Deputy Minister of Finance (2006-2008) and that of adviser to Zinaida Greceanîi, the Prime Minister of that period (2008-2009). Later he left for the private sector, returning at the end of 2017 to the position of State Secretary at the Ministry of Finance.

Aliona and Gheorghe Ursoi, Ion Chicu’s sister and brother-in-law, the ones with whom the prime minister shares the duplex, have also been public employees. Aliona Ursoi, according to her statement of wealth and interests for 2018, is the Deputy Head of Directorate for Policy and Priorities Coordination within the State Chancellery. Until 2018, she had worked at the Ministry of Economy and Infrastructure. 

Gheorghe Ursoi had worked until 2017 for the Secretariat of the Parliament, at the Electronic Government Agency and in the non-governmental sector.

Minister of Internal Affairs: a house of millions in Chișinău, donated by parents who live in the village

Pavel Voicu, the new Minister of Internal Affairs, similar to the Prime Minister, lives in a house located in Durlești. The minister’s family came into the possession of the two-storey house following a donation from his parents, residents of the village of Măcărești, Ungheni district, in the central part of Moldova.

Ana and Feodosie Voicu, the minister’s parents, bought the land on which the house stands today in 2007, while they were 57 and 62, respectively. The seller of the land was Ion Stratulat, the ex-policeman shot in 2011 on a terrace in the center of Chișinău following a conflict with the sportsman Ion Șoltoianu.

According to the cadastral property records, the house was put into operation in August 2012, and after only two months, on October 6, 2012, Ana and Feodosie Voicu donated it to their son. 

In the years 2007-2012, during which time, officially, the house was built by his parents, Pavel Voicu held various management positions in the police, including that of head of the Botanica police inspectorate and of Cimișlia police inspectorate. We spoke to some people from Măcărești, who said that Minister Voicu’s parents are ordinary people and that his father worked for several years as a driver.

“Until a certain stage the house was owned by my parents, then I went to Romania for three years, returned and finished it. I built it with my parents. My mother worked in Italy for about 12 years, and my father stayed with me. I purchased the terrain and started the construction, then I went to Romania and I worked three years as general manager at a metallurgical plant and I earned a salary that allowed me to finish building my house,” the minister told ZdG about the financial resources that made it possible to build the house in which he lives.

The minister also states that he is the owner of a Skoda Superb, bought in leasing in 2017, for 24,000 euros. The value of the lease is 14,400 euros and is due in 2020.

Stela Voicu, the minister’s wife, is the administrator of Stelcomex SRL, with the legal address in the village of Măcărești, a company whose sole founder is Feodosie Voicu, the minister’s father, presently 74 years old. However, Pavel Voicu claims that the company exists only on paper and has not been active at all.

The Minister’s daughter displays a “luxury” lifestyle on social media

The Minister’s daughter, 24 year-old Paulina, is a business associate. She holds a share of 27.5 percent of Tre Mulini, together with Dumitru Ududovici (27.5 percent) and the Turkish citizen Ustun Mehmet (45 percent). 

“I didn’t help her with anything. They wanted to deal with pasta, but I do not know what they will do, I do not think they have great activity there,” the minister told ZdG about the business in which his daughter is involved.

On social media, Paulina displays an extravagant lifestyle, posting photos from mundane events or holidays abroad. In some pictures, Paulina Voicu appears with Sandra Dodon, the daughter of Alexandru Dodon, the owner of the President Hotel, originally from the same village as President Igor Dodon.

Since 1995, Pavel Voicu’s career has been linked to state institutions and he held different positions within law bodies. Before being appointed Minister of Internal Affairs, Voicu held the position of Minister of Defense in the Government led by Maia Sandu for several months and, until June, he was a counselor to President Dodon for special missions. 

Voicu came to the President’s office in August 2017, after having accompanied Igor Dodon on a trip to Mount Athos in Greece, along with a large group of Socialist Party representatives.

House under construction of the new Minister of Economy

Anatol Usatîi, the new Minister of Economy and Infrastructure, has almost completed the construction of a house in Chișinău during this period.

The house has not yet been put into operation, neither has it been indicated by the minister in the most recent statement of wealth and interests filed in October 2019, shortly after accepting the position of first Deputy Governor of the Executive Committee of the Autonomous Territorial Unity Gagauzia.

In the document, the official indicated that, since 2014, he owns an 860 square meter plot of land and a 50 square meter house. In fact, the minister entered in the declaration the land and the house, which, meanwhile, had been demolished, and which was registered on that lot in 2014, the year in which it had been purchased. The official forgot to declare the construction that now stands on that lot.

Anatol Usatîi told ZdG that he lives in this house although it is not ready yet.

“I suggest you access my annual statements of wealth, which are public, as you will find many figures there. In 2015 I submitted the first statement for the year 2014 (I returned to the public sector in March 2015) and it shows my income of about 51,600 dollars (900,000 lei) in the position of project manager for road rehabilitation (Moldova COMPACT). 

In addition, keep in mind that the U.S. dollar to Moldovan leu exchange rate that year was about 14 to 1 and I received my salary in U.S. dollars. It is worth mentioning that we worked in the COMPACT project since 2010.

As for the house, I purchased the terrain in the spring of 2014 (almost a year before coming to public functions). I did the technical project in 2014 too, and I received the building permit in the fall of 2014. I had money to start the construction and I started it before coming to the Ministry of Transport. Another point to mention, I have built a “duplex” house, the second part is for the parents. The parents sold a three-room apartment in Soroca, and presently the house in the village of Egoreni (Soroca) is for sale.

In December 2018 we also sold a house with a terrain in Comrat, which was inherited by my wife in 2009, you may see the statements for 2018. Unfortunately, I didn’t have much time to deal with the construction of the house. We moved into the house in August 2018, we had completed three rooms by then. Until then, we rented a two-room apartment in Poșta Veche,” the Minister declared for ZdG. 

According to the information from the statement of wealth and interests for 2018, the Minister of Economy and Infrastructure drives a Toyota RAV 4, manufactured and purchased in 2010. Fedora Usataia, the minister’s wife, works for IGP Initiative SRL. In 2018, the Usatîi spouses sold a house with two auxiliary constructions in Comrat for around 16,900 dollars (295.000 lei), which the minister’s wife received as donation back in 2009.

Anatol Usatîi has worked in the public sector for the last 20 years, except for the period 2010-2015, when he was director of the road rehabilitation project within the Public Institution Millennium Challenge Fund Moldova. 

He gradually moved from the position of chief specialist in the Directorate for Road Development to the position of Deputy Minister of Transport and State Secretary within the Ministry of Economy and Infrastructure during the period when the institution was headed by a representative of the Democratic Party of Moldova.

In the last few months, Usatîi has been invited to the staff of the Gagauzia Bashkan Irina Vlah, being the first Deputy Governor of the Executive Committee of the Autonomous Territorial Unity Gagauzia. For the last two years, Usatîi has also held the positions of Chairman of Moldatsa Board of Directors and of the State Road Administration. 

 Minister of Finance, owner of agricultural land of over 500 ha

Sergiu Pușcuța, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, is among the rich members of the Chicu Government too. In 2018, he owned two apartments, 67 and 93 square meters each, and two garages, with a cumulative cadastral value of around 57,400 dollars (1 million lei). 

Pușcuța declares several other estate properties, one of which exceeds 1,000 square meters. In 2018, the current Minister of Finance became the owner of a new Skoda, bought with more than 31,000 dollars (556,000 lei).

In addition to these assets, Sergiu Pușcuța is also a large agricultural land owner. He owns almost 1,000 terrains with areas ranging from several square meters to several hectares.

During 2018, Pușcuța received almost 92,000 dollars (1.6 million lei) from the lease of the land, and another 86,000 dollars (1.5 million) from the sale of some land. Also in 2018, Sergiu Pușcuța received around 17,000 dollars (300,000 lei) from the sale of a car and earned another 18,400 dollars (322,000) as Director of the State Tax Service.

At a press conference on November 19, Chiril Moţpan, the deputy of the ACUM Bloc, said that Sergiu Pușcuța owns about 500 ha of agricultural land, of which about 150 ha might have been bought by Eduard Ababii, a former judge at the Court of Appeal Bălți and current member of the Constitutional Court, who, according to Moţpan, is Pușcuța’s brother-in-law. 

At the same time, Moţpan added that “it would have been extremely difficult for Sergiu Pușcuța, with his budgetary salary, to justify the amassed properties, which amount to one million euros.”

Referring to the statements of the ACUM Bloc deputy, however, Sergiu Pușcuța specified that he started to buy agricultural land in 2011, while he was working in the private sector.

“The information was collected from my declaration of assets. As for the alleged illegalities, it is very important and I am really grateful to the deputy who sent the file to the Prosecutor’s Office. 

That is how it should be, the competent bodies must draw conclusions. It is hard for me to say who evaluated my fortune at one million euros, I think Mr Moţpan is more skilled in this procedure. 

I can’t exactly estimate the value of my property, but, as I said, I own 500 ha of agricultural land. I would like to remind you that, from 2009 to 2016, I did not work in the public service, I worked in responsible positions in the private sector. The business referred to by Mr. Moţpan was started in 2011,” claims Pușcuța.

 Sergiu Pușcuța occupied the position of Director of the State Tax Service from 2016, before he was appointed Minister of Finance. Previously, he was vice-director and general manager of a dairy products company in Moldova, and in 2008-2009 he was a financial counselor to President Vladimir Voronin, as well as director of the Center for Combating Economic Crimes and Corruption, the current National Anticorruption Center.

 The Gaiciuc family received a 130 square meters apartment as a donation from retired parents

Victor Gaiciuc, the new Minister of Defense, together with his wife Valentina, employed in the Ministry of Education, Culture and Research, owns two apartments in Chișinău, both obtained when the two spouses held public functions. Last year, the new minister and his wife reported official incomes of over 57,000 dollars (1 million lei).

Officially, Valentina Gaiciuc became owner of a three-room apartment with an area of ​​130 square meters in March 2006, while Victor Gaiciuc was ambassador to Belgium and representative of Moldova to N.A.T.O. However, the family had owned the apartment before. On the basis of an investment contract and a transfer-receipt document dated September 2005, the apartment had initially been registered in the names of the minister’s retired in-laws, Ion and Nina Miron, who were then 73 and respectively 69 years old.

The apartment was purchased almost a year after Victor Gaiciuc was dismissed as Minister of Defense in the Tarlev Government, following an appeal by the Supreme Security Council. 

The appeal criticized the activity of the Ministry of Defense, which tolerated the lack of a factual record of the military heritage of the National Army and the cases of violation of rights of the military. 

The revocation took place in the context of a scandal related to the illegal theft from the National Army’s depots of a lot of weapons: 200 F-1 grenades; 31 grenade launchers; 90,000 ammunition. 

The Gaiciuc family officially owns the other 73 square meter apartment since January 2007.

The income of the Minister of Defense family in 2018 amounts to around 69,000 dollars (1.2 million lei)

In addition to the two apartments, Victor and Valentina Gaiciuc own eight terrains, most of them agricultural, an inherited house and two cars, a Toyota and a Mercedes.

The Gaiciuc family keeps 20,000 dollars and 10,000 euros in three bank accounts. According to the most recent declaration of assets submitted by Gaiciuc’s spouses, in 2018, they had official incomes of about 69,000 dollars (1.2 million lei) from salaries, pensions and from the two cars rent.

Victor Gaiciuc got most of the money, around 35,000 dollars (613,000 lei), while he was president of Group Agreement Insurance Company from 2010 until 2018. Ina Gaiciuc, one of his daughters-in-law, works for the same company. President Igor Dodon admitted that he is Ina and Serghei Gaiciuc’s godparent to marriage.

After leaving the insurance company, Victor Gaiciuc became an advisor to President Igor Dodon, secretary of the Supreme Security Council and deputy on the Socialist Party lists following the parliamentary elections of February 2019. He also worked at the Ministry of Defense in 2001- 2004.

The three apartments of the new Minister of Education

Corneliu Popovici, the new Minister of Education, Culture and Research, owns, together with his wife Angela Popovici, three apartments in Chișinău, purchased in 2006, 2009 and 2011.

The apartments’ surface is 47, 60 and 120 square meters each and they were bought by the Popovici spouses during the period when they practiced various didactic activities. 

The Popovici spouses declared incomes of about 17,000 dollars (300,000 lei) in 2018. They also own two lands, and a 25,000 euros bank account.

Corneliu Popovici stood out during the period of communist governance when he was active as Associate Professor at the Academy of Public Administration under the President of the Republic of Moldova. 

He is one of the authors of integrated history textbooks, that were introduced in schools in 2006. The textbook has been described by many experts as anti-Romanian. After publishing the book, he was promoted to deputy director of the Academy, where he worked until 2008.

 In 2009-2010, he was Vice-Rector at the Institute of International Relations of Moldova. Since 2011 he came closer to the business environment; the same year his family bought the largest (120 square meters) apartment in their collection.

During 2011-2015, Popovici was deputy director at DAAC Hermes, a company owned by Vasile Chirtoca, former municipal councilor from the Communist Party, recently elected municipal councilor on the Socialist Party lists. 

Corneliu Popovici became the advisor to President Igor Dodon in 2016, shortly after the presidential election. His wife, Angela Popovici is an Associate Professor at the Academy of Public Administration.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs keeps over 57,000 dollars (1 million lei) in the accounts

Aureliu Ciocoi, the new Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, lives with his wife Tatiana in a 132 square meters apartment located on Vlaicu Pârcălab Street, right in the center of Chișinău.

The Ciocoi spouses purchased the apartment in 2004, following an investment contract. At that time, Aureliu Ciocoi was First Secretary at Moldova’s Embassy in Germany, and later, Head of Section within the General Directorate of International Law and Treaties of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration.

In 2017, the Ciocoi’s spouses sold another apartment they owned, located in Ștefan cel Mare Boulevard, also in the center of Chișinău, obtaining, according to the declaration of assets and interests, only 18,000 dollars (315,000 lei), although the market price of such real estate property is higher.

The new Minister of Foreign Affairs also owns two lands, an inherited house and a Mercedes-Benz GLK 320 CDI, manufactured in 2009 and purchased in 2017 for 7,500 Swiss francs. The Ciocoi family keeps 37,000 euros and 38,000 dollars in the banks of Germany and Moldova.

Aureliu Ciocoi is a journalist by profession, but he has worked in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs structures for the last 20 years, being Moldova’s ambassador to Germany, China, and the U.S.A.

 The Minister of Agriculture lives in a house bought in 2012

There are ministers, though, who live a more modest life compared to their colleagues. Ion Perju, Minister of Agriculture, Regional Development and Environment in the Chicu Government, is the owner of a 106 square meters house, bought in 2012. The declared value of the house constitutes around 40,000 dollars (693,000 lei).

In the declaration of assets for 2018, the new minister also declares four agricultural lands, with an area of 1.5 ha, as well as a Honda CRV car manufactured in 2004 and purchased in 2010 with 7,500 euros.

The past four years, Ion Perju has served as President Dodon’s adviser in the field of agribusiness and public administration, and from February 2008 until November 2009 he was Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Food Industry.

The wealth of the Ministers of Justice, Health and Reintegration.

Fadei Nagacevschi, the new Minister of Justice, owns two apartments, 33 and respectively 68 square meters each, acquired in 2010 and 2018, as well as a garage, bought in 2012.

The Nagacevschi family also has two cars, a Volvo S80 and a MiniCooper S, purchased in 2012 and 2013 and three terrains obtained in 2017.

In the last few months, Fadei Nagacevschi was advisor to Zinaida Greceanîi, President of the Parliament. 

In recent years, he represented the interests of the Socialist Party as a lawyer. Fadei is the son of Vitalie Nagacevschi, president of the Jurists for Human Rights Association.

Lenuța Nagacevschi, the wife of the new Minister of Justice, has worked in recent years as assistant deputy in the Parliament’s secretariat, as well as consultant to the Supreme Court of Justice.

Viorica Dumbrăveanu, Minister of Health, Labor and Social Protection, owns two apartments of 55 and 58 square meters each, obtained in 2015 and 2018 by inheritance and by donation contract. 

At the same time, the Dumbrăveanu family also owns a residential house obtained in 2010, a Mercedes C200 car, bought in 2010 and five terrains.

Since July 2019, Dumbrăveanu has held the position of adviser to President Dodon. While the Democratic Power was in office, she was secretary of state within the Ministry of Health, Labor and Social Protection. Previously, she was Deputy Minister. Dumbrăveanu works in the Ministry of Health since 2002, when she was employed as a consultant of the Social Assistance Department under the subordination of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection.

Alexandru Flenchea, Deputy Prime Minister for Reintegration, owns two apartments. One has an area of 80 square meters and a cadastral value of 52,000 euros, and the other has 32 square meters and is worth 22,000 euros. 

The family of the Deputy Prime Minister owns a Suzuki S-Cross car, produced and obtained in 2017, worth 15,500 euros, but also a Ford Focus made in 2005 and bought in 2015 with around 5,000 euros (98,000 lei).

In his declaration assets and personal interests, Flenchea also indicates a loan of 59,000 euros, contracted in 2018 and due in 2038, as well as two credits of almost 7,000 euros (130,000 lei), due in 2020.

Before becoming Deputy Prime Minister for Reintegration, Alexandru Flenchea held, for several months, the position of Head of the Reintegration Policy Bureau, and in 2003-2008, he worked in the former Ministry of Reintegration.

Anatolie EŞANU, anatolie.esanu@gmail.com

Victor MOŞNEAG, v.mosneag.zdg@gmail.com