Of the 11 candidates who managed to collect the necessary signatures from voters, only one will take over the management of the country for the next four years. The decision will be taken at the polls on October 20. IPN News Agency provides a comprehensive description of each presidential election candidate, including their professional and personal background, held positions, declared income and property, as well as their promises for the future of the Republic of Moldova. Know the candidates, choose responsibly!
Ion Chicu is running for President of the Republic of Moldova on behalf of the Party for Development and Consolidation of Moldova, which he leads. He served as Minister of Finance in 2018-2019 and as Prime Minister of the country from November 2019 until December 2020. His electoral slogan is “Together for the Country!”.
Ion Chicu was born on February 28, 1972 in Pîrjolteni village of Călărași district. He is an economist by profession. He is married and has three children.
In 1989-1994, he studied at the Academy of Economic Studies of Moldova (ASEM), graduating in economic management. He worked as a lecturer at ASEM for two years. Between 1994 and 2005, he served as head of department and executive director at Moldacom SA. From June 2005 until November 2005, he headed the General Structural Reforms Division of the Ministry of Economy and Trade. From November 2005 until March 2006, he served as advisor to the First Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Moldova. The candidate’s CV also shows that, from February 2007 to September 2009, he was a member of the Governing Board of the Council of Europe Development Bank, and from March 2006 to April 2008, he served as Deputy Minister of Finance.
His professional experience also includes the position of Senior State Adviser to the Prime Minister of the Republic of Moldova on economic and foreign affairs, a position held from April 2008 to September 2009. In 2009-2017, he worked as a consultant in various projects, and from October 2015 to December 2017, he was a member and chairman of the Strategic Development Council of “Nicolae Testemițanu” University of Medicine and Pharmacy.
In 2018, he held the position of secretary general of state of the Ministry of Finance, and from December 2018 to June 2019, he served as Minister of Finance in the Filip Government. The Chicu Government was the cabinet of ministers that governed the Republic of Moldova from November 2019 to December 2020, when Ion Chicu resigned and was replaced by Aureliu Ciocoi, who was appointed acting prime minister.
According to the property declaration for 2023, Ion Chicu earned over 78,000 lei salaries from Cahulpan Joint Stock Company and the Party for Development and Consolidation of Moldova. The candidate’s wife declared over 155,000 lei earnings.
Ion Chicu also declared donations of 30,000 and 100,000 lei respectively from two people. From the sale of a Nissan Qashqai car, made in 2001, the Chicu family obtained 415,000 lei. The candidate’s wife owns a car with a declared value of 430,000 lei. The family also owns plots of land with a market value of 125,000 and 250,000 lei respectively.
The candidate declared that he owns a house acquired in 1994, with an area of 40 square meters, and a villa of 78 square meters, purchased in 2015. He also owns a 60-square-meter apartment acquired in 2020, with a declared value of 798,000 lei.
Ion Chicu indicated a bank loan of 690,000 lei with an interest rate of 5%, repayable by 2040, but also a loan of 150,000 lei with 0% interest, repayable by 2026.
His electoral program includes ten priorities, such as restoring the functionality of state institutions, improving the demographic situation, ensuring decent pensions and social allowances, developing the national economy and access to quality healthcare services.
“If we are to present our Electoral Program in three words, we believe that First - the true State is that state that works for the people. Two - Realism - because populism is a serious form of manifestation of disrespect for the citizens, which in the end, generates the people’s full distrust in the political class and, most seriously, in the State itself. The third important word is Development because the Republic of Moldova, we as a country, as a state must evolve, must develop and thus solve serious problems, some of which are essential. So, State!, Realism!, Development!”, said the candidate.
At the meetings with voters, the candidate also says that the health of citizens is the main wealth of the country and the state must ensure that the country’s inhabitants have access to quality healthcare services. Ion Chicu said the state must ensure that each citizen of the Republic of Moldova has an annual medical examination based on the health policy. “Late detection is the main cause of the worsening of people’s health and increased mortality from oncological, cardiovascular diseases and other diseases dangerous to human life. On the other hand, the treatment of these diseases at advanced stages in most cases is ineffective, but also involves significant financial resources for the population and the state. Under these conditions, the implementation by the state of the Annual Citizens’ Health Assessment Program will have a complex beneficial effect – on people’s health, but also on the financial sustainability of the healthcare system.”
The young people are a priority of his team. “A nation that does not invest in education as a priority cannot prosper in any other area and is doomed to extinction,” noted the candidate.
In the ballot for the presidential election of October 20, Ion Chicu is under No. 6.
