Vlad Plahotniuc: I asked Romanian authorities to stop procedure for changing my name

First Deputy Head of Parliament Vlad Plahotniuc in a press release announces that he requested the Romanian authorities to stop the procedure for changing his name in order to bring the speculations over this case to an end, Info-Prim Neo reports. “In order to stop the speculations over a technical procedure for taking the family name of one of my parents, whose legality was confirmed both by Moldovan and Romanian experts, I asked the Romanian authorities to end this procedure. This morning (January 31), I entrusted a legal representative with the task of dealing with this matter. I will provide more information immediately after this procedure is stopped,” Vlad Plahotniuc has said. He also said that this campaign concerning his double identity was aimed at denigrating him by presenting an absolutely legal procedure followed in the neighboring country as an illegality. “Though this campaign started long before the election campaign, I’m sure that it was designed to defame me and the party I represent before the forthcoming elections,” added Vlad Plahotniuc, who is the first vice president of the Democratic Party of Moldova. On January 27, the newspaper “Adevarul” (“The Truth”) reported that the richest Moldovan politician changed his name in the Romanian documents from Vladimir Plahotniuc into Vlad Ulinici, which is the maiden name of his mother. The given disclosure provoked contradictory discussions in the political and public environments. Vlad Plahotniuc said he changed his name in Romania for the sake of his older son Timofei, at the teachers’ suggestion, so that he could easier adjust himself to studies in Bucharest.