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VIDEO // Vasile Tofan is PAS’s candidate for prime minister

The Action and Solidarity Party (PAS) will propose Vasile Tofan for the position of prime minister during consultations with President of the Republic of Moldova Maia Sandu. The announcement was made by PAS leader Igor Grosu, who specified that the parliamentary faction will present this candidacy at the meeting scheduled with the head of state.

According to Igor Grosu, Vasile Tofan’s candidacy was discussed within the PAS faction, and he presented a vision and a plan for leading the future Government.

“The PAS faction will put forward Vasile Tofan at tomorrow’s consultations for the position of prime minister. We discussed for several hours together about Mr. Tofan’s vision and plan. I am glad that we share the same fundamental objectives and values – EU accession in the coming years, cleaning up institutions and ensuring economic growth, as well as implementing the essential reforms started during this period,” said Grosu.

The PAS leader mentioned that Vasile Tofan has extensive experience in business, investments, and management, gained both in the Republic of Moldova and internationally.

“Vasile Tofan comes with solid experience in the business environment, investments, and management, acquired both in the Republic of Moldova and internationally. Over the years, he has contributed to the development of important companies and has supported investments that created jobs and supported the country’s economy,” Igor Grosu added.

According to the PAS leader, the candidate proposed for the position of prime minister has previously supported the European path of the Republic of Moldova.

“Vasile Tofan has previously supported us in our efforts for European integration. The Republic of Moldova needs competence, integrity, active engagement, and the power to meet citizens’ expectations,” Grosu also said.

Vasile Tofan is an investor at Horizon Capital, an investment fund for start-ups with about 1.6 billion US dollars under management, focused on Ukraine and Moldova. He led investments in Purcari, Glass Container Company, and maib. Previously, he worked in consulting at Monitor Group and in corporate development at Philips in Amsterdam. He studied at Erasmus University Rotterdam and Harvard Business School. 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 networks, he argues that the country needs deep changes in the economy, public administration, and social policies 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 person: the conciliator – because the country, divided and disappointed, 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 automatically fall,” the entrepreneur said.

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

“We have approximately 30% of all employees working in the public sector. Things must be radically streamlined,” he stated, advocating for the merger and reorganization of institutions that are no longer effective. The entrepreneur maintains that restoring citizens’ trust in state institutions is a mandatory condition for applying reforms. In the field of public administration, he proposes, among other things, limiting salary differences in the public sector and better management of state-owned companies. “Capping salaries in the public sector at 4–5 average salaries would be a first step,” said Vasile Tofan.

Referring to state-owned enterprises, the entrepreneur criticized the current management model and proposed conducting external audits, as well as partially listing some companies on the stock exchange. Another direction concerns changing the economic model of the Republic of Moldova, by reducing dependence on consumption and remittances and focusing on investments and exports. He also advocated for reducing bureaucracy, simplifying procedures for entrepreneurs, reforming the pension system, and reorganizing local public administration. With regard to 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 position of prime minister. The consultations are taking place after the resignation of Prime Minister Alexandru Munteanu, who announced that he was leaving office after eight months in his mandate.

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 duties related to the administration of public affairs until the members of a new Cabinet take the oath of office.