ANALYSIS: The three Romanians leading key institutions in Moldova and the nine high-level Romanian advisors to the Chisinau government

Two key institutions in Moldova are led by Romanians who have built their careers in Bucharest and subsequently acquired Moldovan citizenship. These are the National Bank of Chisinau and the Office for the Prevention of Money Laundering. Simultaneously, several high-level Romanian experts – former ministers and heads of institutions – play key roles in the government of the Republic of Moldova.

Romanian Heads of Institutions in Moldova Appointed by Chisinau

Anca Dragu – head of the National Bank of Moldova. USR Senator Anca Dragu, former Minister of Finance in Romania, was appointed on December 22 by the Parliament of Chisinau as Governor of the National Bank. The decree was signed by President Maia Sandu on the day the former governor Octavian Armașu was revoked from office. Anca Dragu worked for over 15 years within the National Bank of Romania and the International Monetary Fund and was the Minister of Public Finance in the Government of Romania. In 2020 she was elected President of the Senate of Romania.

Daniel-Marius Staicu, head of the Money Laundering Prevention and Combating Service. In November 2022, Staicu was appointed by the Government of the Republic of Moldova as director of the Service for a term of 5 years. Previously, Daniel-Marius Staicu was the head of the National Office for the Prevention and Combating of Money Laundering in Romania. In 2021, Staicu was appointed as a director within the Compliance Directorate of Victoriabank – the financial group owned by Banca Transilvania. Before that, he was a specialist officer at the Service for the Investigation of Frauds in the Romanian Police.

Romanian Heads Appointed by the EU

Cosmin Dinescu. The European Union appointed the Romanian diplomat Cosmin Dinescu as the head of the EU Mission in the Republic of Moldova (EU Partnership Mission – EUPM) in April 2023. Cosmin Dinescu, a career diplomat with the rank of ambassador, has two and a half decades of experience in diplomacy. Dinescu was the Secretary-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ambassador to Lithuania and Croatia, and Director-General for Legal Affairs.

The civilian mission sent to Chisinau is a first for the EU and is made up of experts in various fields who advise the Moldovan authorities on the following directions: Cybersecurity and combating hybrid threats and disinformation, Strengthening crisis management structures focused on internal security, Providing necessary equipment for crisis management.

High Advisors to the Moldovan Government, Appointed by the EU

Daniel Funeriu. Former Minister of Education in Romania, author of the most profound reform in education. In 1999 he obtained a Ph.D. in chemistry at the University of Strasbourg under the guidance of J.-M. Lehn, Nobel Prize Laureate. He then worked at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla (California) and the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology in Amagasaki (Japan), Technical University of Munich. In 2009 he became a Member of the European Parliament, then Minister of Education in Romania. He was also a presidential adviser.

Dragoș Ciuparu. He was the head of Research in Romania. He is a chemical engineer by profession and has a doctorate obtained at Paris 7 University ‘Denis Diderot’. He spent almost 7 years in the Chemical Engineering Department of Yale University, first as a postdoctoral researcher, and later as a scientific researcher. At the end of 2005, he returned to the Petroleum-Gas University of Ploiesti, Romania, establishing a new research group and obtaining the title of professor.

Nicolae Grigore. He is an advisor for the Financial Services sector at the National Bank of Moldova. He previously worked at the National Bank of Romania and has over 20 years of experience in prudential supervision and anti-money laundering.

Gabriela Scutea. She works alongside the Ministry of Justice and the General Prosecutor’s Office in Moldova. She was the general prosecutor of Romania. She has a 27-year career as a prosecutor in Romania.

Alexandru Săndulescu. He was the head of ANRE in Romania. He obtained a master’s degree in the energy field from the Technical University of Bucharest, and a Ph.D. in energy markets, and studied utility regulation at the University of Gainesville, Florida, and the University of Sherbrooke in Montreal. He was a researcher and program director at the national energy research-development institute ICEMENRG.

Victor Wili Apreutesei. Police commissioner, with over 21 years of experience in the Romanian Police, starting as a criminal investigation officer, analyst, and manager of information analysis and witness protection units, as well as deputy head of the Romanian Police Inspectorate General.

Victor Giosan. Expert to the Moldovan Prime Minister for local public administration reform. Giosan has over 21 years of experience as a top manager and international expert in central and local public administration in Romania. He was Secretary of State in the General Secretariat of the Government of Romania (2005-2009). As an international consultant, he worked in Romania and other European countries.

Other Romanian Experts Selected by the EU

Anca Boagiu, former Minister of Transport and European Integration in Romania, currently operates at the Ministry of Infrastructure and Regional Development in the Republic of Moldova to help the team prepare for EU accession negotiations, reports Radio Moldova.

Irina Alexe, EU expert alongside the government of the Republic of Moldova. She was Secretary of State at the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Romania in both the Cîțu and Cioloș governments. She received the rank of police commissioner in the Ministry of Internal Affairs at 35 years old and retired at 42 years old.