Vasile Tofan, PAS candidate for prime minister: I will channel all my energy and experience to complete European integration process

Entrepreneur Vasile Tofan, the candidate nominated by the Action and Solidarity Party (PAS) for the position of prime minister says that accepting this responsibility is “a great honor,” but also a difficult task, given the high expectations of citizens. He said he will use all his experience and energy to achieve the established objectives, the main one being the completion of the European integration process of the Republic of Moldova.

Together with PAS leader Igor Grosu, the party’s candidate for prime minister, Vasile Tofan, noted that the upcoming period will be quite demanding.

“I thank you very much for your trust. It is a great honor, but I admit that I also feel the gravity of the moment. It is a great responsibility, because people’s expectations are very high and we have a huge amount of work to do,” said Vasile Tofan.

The PAS candidate specified that he does not claim to have answers to all the problems facing the Republic of Moldova, but assured that he will put all his knowledge and experience at the country’s disposal to achieve the proposed objectives.

“I cannot say that I have answers to all the questions, but I can promise that I will channel all my energy, all my talent, and everything I know into achieving what we have set out to do,” Tofan said.

According to him, the main priority is to continue and complete the European path of the Republic of Moldova.

“Objective number one is to bring EU integration to completion and to sign in 2028,” said Tofan.

This afternoon, Grosu announced that the party will propose Vasile Tofan for the position of prime minister at the consultations with President of the Republic of Moldova Maia Sandu. Vasile Tofan has experience in business, investment, and management, having worked both in the Republic of Moldova and abroad. According to PAS, he has contributed to the development of several companies and to attracting investments that have supported job creation and economic development. Recently, Vasile Tofan publicly presented a set of 12 reform directions that he considers necessary for the development of the Republic of Moldova. In an analysis published on social media, he argues that the country needs profound changes in the economy, public administration, and social policies in order to avoid the worsening of existing problems. He stated that the future leader of the Republic of Moldova must combine three essential qualities: the ability to unite society, the political skill to manage challenges, and the determination to implement difficult reforms.

“Things in Moldova are so complicated that we need all three in one: the conciliator – because the country, divided and disillusioned, needs to be stitched back together; the political animal – to somehow withstand this jungle and be able to achieve something; the reformer – because resources are already at the limit, and without restarting the economy, the rest of the dominoes will fall automatically,” the entrepreneur noted.

According to him, the first stage of transformation must be the definition of a clear economic vision focused on investment and competitiveness. Among the proposed directions are streamlining the public apparatus and restructuring state institutions. Tofan believes that the current administrative structure is overburdened and requires major reforms.

“We have approximately 30% of all employees in the public sector. Things must be radically streamlined,” he declared, advocating the merger and reorganization of institutions that are no longer efficient. The entrepreneur argues that restoring citizens’ trust in state institutions is a mandatory condition for implementing reforms. In the field of public administration, he proposes, among other things, limiting wage disparities in the public sector and better management of state-owned companies.

“Capping salaries in the public sector at 4–5 average wages would be a first step,” said Vasile Tofan. Referring to state-owned enterprises, the entrepreneur criticized the current mode of management and proposed conducting external audits, as well as partially listing some companies on the stock exchange. Another direction targets changing the economic model of the Republic of Moldova by reducing dependence on consumption and remittances and shifting toward investment and exports. He also advocated reducing bureaucracy, simplifying procedures for entrepreneurs, reforming the pension system, and reorganizing local public administration.

Regarding local administration, Vasile Tofan supports reducing the number of administrative structures. In conclusion, Tofan stated that the proposed reforms are politically and socially difficult, but necessary for the country’s development. Vasile Tofan’s candidacy is to be presented during the consultations convened by President Maia Sandu with the parliamentary factions for nominating a candidate for the office of prime minister.

The consultations are taking place after the resignation of Prime Minister Alexandru Munteanu, who announced that he is leaving office after eight months in the post.

According to the Constitution of the Republic of Moldova, in the event of the prime minister’s resignation, the entire Government resigns and only performs the duties of managing public affairs until the members of a new Cabinet take the oath of office.