Former President of Gagauzia People’s Assembly sentenced to eight years in prison by South Court of Appeal judges

Former President of Gagauzia People’s Assembly Dmitri Constantinov has been sentenced to eight years in prison by the judges of the South Court of Appeal, who reduced by four years the prison term imposed by the first instance. The judges partially admitted the requests of the convicted man’s lawyers.

The sentence was issued in the absence of Dmitri Constantinov, who was declared wanted at the end of December 2025. He is to be located, detained, and brought before law enforcement authorities. The sentence will be counted from the moment of detention and is to be served in a closed-type penitentiary. The court’s decision can be appealed to the Supreme Court of Justice.

At the end of December 2025, Dmitri Constantinov was sentenced to 12 years in prison for abuse of power and embezzlement of millions of lei, to be served in a closed-type penitentiary. In addition to the custodial sentence, the court banned him from holding certain positions for five years and ordered him to pay damages of 46 million lei. According to the investigation, between 2017 and 2020, while he was director of a commercial company in Comrat, Dmitri Constantinov allegedly acted together with other persons to authorize unjustified transfers of funds to a company where his son worked.

Prosecutors claim that fictitious contracts were concluded, through which the company managed by Dmitri Constantinov was driven into insolvency, with the estimated damage exceeding 46 million lei.

On 14 November 2025, Dmitri Constantinov announced that he was resigning from the position of President of the Gagauzia People’s Assembly. He said that the decision was a personal one and was taken due to health problems.