The first President of the Republic of Moldova Mircea Snegur died, ex-Deputy Premier Constantin Tampiza has announced.

“It is said news. On September 13, at 11;30pm, the ex-President of the Republic of Moldova Mircea Snegur lost the battle to an incurable disease. God rest his soul. Condolences to the grieving family,” Constantin Tampiza posted on social media.

Mircea Snegur was born on January 17, 1940 in Trifănești village of Soroca county. In 1956, he finished the secondary school in Frumușica village of Florești district. In 1961, he graduated from the Agricultural Institute in Chisinau. He was an agronomist-scientist, a doctor of agricultural sciences.

A former activist of the Communist Party, Mircea Snegur supported the proclaiming of the Republic of Moldova’s independence and acted for the new state to be recognized by the West. Being the chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic, in the critical moment in August 1989, he accepted to support the law that declared Romanian the official language and restored the tricolor. Such a step earned him Moldovans’ sympathy.

On September 3, 1990, Mircea Snegur was named president of the Republic of Moldova by the Supreme Soviet of the former Soviet republic. He held office until December 1, 1996, when he lost the election to Petru Lucinschi.