Ion Sturza

Ion Sturza

Ion Sturza (born May 9, 1960 in Pîrjolteni , Călărași Rajon ) is a Moldovan politician and was Prime Minister of the Republic of Moldova from February to December 1999.

biography

Family background and advancement to a large entrepreneur

Sturza came from the old Romanian family Sturza (Sturdza), whose origin can be traced back to around 1540. The family was long and intimate with the governments of Moldova and later Romania . Its members belonged to two main branches that had their ancestors in the two sons of Chiriac Sturdza, on the one hand in Ion Ionita Sandu Sturdza , the prince of Moldova from 1822 to 1828 , or in the Russian journalist and diplomat Alexandru Sturdza . Other important members of the family included the Prince of Moldova from 1834 to 1849 , Mihail Sturdza , General Grigore Sturdza and the multiple Prime Minister of Romania Dimitrie Alexandru Sturdza .

After attending school, he completed a degree in economics at the Vladimir Ilyich Lenin State University in Chișinău . After completing his studies, he initially worked in the fields of business and cultural exchange before completing his military service between 1983 and 1985 , where he was most recently chief instructor. Then he was a consultant at the Society of Friendship with Other Countries ("Asociației de Prietenie cu Țările Străine") until 1987. He then became Deputy General Director of the Moldovan SSR Foreign Trade Company, MOLDEX. In this function he mainly dealt with projects of foreign investors to renew the technology of the national industry as well as with projects for the granting of foreign credits. In addition, he was responsible for coordinating the financing, planning and construction of canning factories in Orhei , Camenca , Cupcini , Ungheni , Soroca , Florești and other cities in the country.

After Moldova gained independence as an independent republic, in 1991 he became the founder, director and president of the board of Incomn JSC, a company that has become the leading financial and industrial group in Bessarabia . In addition, he became the founder and owner of “MoldInconBank” in Chișinău. In 1996, in addition to these activities, he also became chairman of the supervisory board of "FinComBank", which, according to economic analysts, has become the safest and leading bank in the country. Sturza also became a member of the board of directors of the International Association of Fruit Juice Manufacturers in Paris and a member of the Supreme Economic Council of the President of Moldova. With his majority stake in Incom, he ultimately acquired a monopoly in the production of beverages and canned fruit and vegetables. As a result, through the government guarantee, he was also able to obtain a loan of US $ 22 million from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the renewal of private manufacturing technologies. He was also President of the Foreign Policy Society (Asociației pentru Politică Externă) and Honorary Consul of Kazakhstan in Moldova.

Promotion to Prime Minister of Moldova

On May 22, 1998 he was appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Economic Affairs and Reforms in the government of Prime Minister Ion Ciubuc after confirmation by parliament , making him the country's leading economic politician.

After Ciubuc resigned and the mayor of Chișinău Serafim Urecheanu failed to form his own government , he was commissioned by President Petru Lusinschi on February 19, 1999 to form a government. On March 3, 1999, the first vote in parliament took place, with 51 votes from the 101 MPs present. Due to the decision of the Constitutional Court on March 6, 1999 that 52 votes were necessary for a government majority, another vote in parliament took place on March 12, 1999, in which Sturza received the necessary majority of 52 votes this time. This ultimately resulted in the formation of the first government, a coalition of the center, the so-called Alliance for Democracy and Reforms (Alianța pentru Democrație și Reforme (ADR)). His government, sworn in on March 12, 1999, also included ministers from the previous government:

• First Deputy Prime Minister Nicolae Andronic,
• Deputy Prime Ministers Alexandru Muravschi (new) and Oleg Stratulat,
• Minister for Economy and Reforms Alexandru Muravschi (new)
• Minister of State Vladimir Filat (new),
• Foreign Minister Nicolae Tăbăcaru,
• Industry and Trade Minister Alexandra Can (new),
• Finance Minister Anatolie Arapu,
• Minister for Agriculture and Medium-Sized Industry Valeriu Bulgari,
• Transport and Communication Minister Victor Cheibaș (new),
• Environment Minister Arcadie Capcalea (new),
• Minister for Territorial Development, Construction and Municipal Cooperation Mihai Severovan,
• Minister of Education and Science Anatol Grimalschi,
• Minister of Culture Ghenadie Ciobanu,
• Minister of Welfare, Social Security and Families Vladimir Gurițenco,
• Health Minister Eugeniu Gladun,
• Justice Minister Ion Păduraru,
• Minister of National Security General Tudor Botnaru,
• Interior Minister Major General Victor Catan,
• Defense Minister Valeriu Pasat
• as well as cabinet members by virtue of office of the governor of the autonomous territorial unit of Gagauzia Gheorghe Tabunşcic and the mayor of Chişinău, Serafim Urucheanu.

During the term of office, on May 11, 1999, Security Minister Botnaru was replaced by the previous Defense Minister, Pasat, whose office was in turn taken over by Boris Gămurari. In addition, on September 24, 1999, Dumitru Croitor succeeded Tabunșcic as governor of the Gagauz Autonomous Territorial Unit.

One of the goals of his government was to support small and medium-sized businesses. During his reign there was a serious energy crisis , the main cause of which was the country's insolvency, which the Sturza government was accused of. In the period that followed, the Communist Party ( Partidul Comuniștilor din Republica Moldova ) kept motions of no confidence , but with 40 votes by the parliamentary majority of the parties in the center of the ADR, it was defeated. On November 5, 1999, a new parliamentary majority, which included the Communists, Christian Democrats and independent MPs, called for the country's privatization, industrial and financial policy to be redesigned.

On November 9, 1999, there was another motion of no confidence. Due to the changed circumstances, Sturza was expressed mistrust with a majority of 52 votes and thus practically voted out. The 48 members of the government alliance “For Democracy and Reforms” stayed away from the vote. For a vote of no confidence, only a simple majority of the 101-member parliament is required. The communist-ruled parliament accused the Sturza government of corruption and mismanagement. The situation had come to a head because of the energy crisis and the announcement by the Russian company Gazprom that it would cut gas supplies to Moldova by forty percent. The IMF had offered Moldova a $ 35 million loan if parliament approves the privatization of the wine and tobacco industry. The government's proposals to privatize the Moldovan key industries did not find a majority in parliament, so the IMF withdrew the loan offer.

Another reason for the overthrow of the government was probably the announcement of the report of a special commission set up by the president to amend the constitution on August 4, 1999. According to this report, the current system of government is leading to instability in the country. The report therefore called for the president's exclusive right to appoint the prime minister and ministers. In addition, the president should become chairman of the Supreme Security Council and be able to appoint all prosecutors and judges. In addition, the term of office should be extended from four to five years. In addition, the president should have the right to dissolve parliament if this legislative process blocks for more than two months. Finally, the report envisaged reducing the number of MPs from 101 to 70, who were to be elected exclusively in constituencies.

President Lusinschi initially entrusted the former Vice-Prime Minister under Andrei Sangheli , Valeriu Bobutac, with the formation of a government, which, however, failed on November 22, 1999 in the vote in parliament. The subsequent attempt to form a government by Vladimir Voronin also failed until finally, on December 21, 1999, Dumitru Braghiș succeeded Sturza as Prime Minister.

Retirement from politics

After leaving politics, Sturza continued his activities as an entrepreneur. In 2002 Sturza took over the functions of Presiding General Director of the company ROMPETROL MOLDOVA, which is part of the large private Romanian group of companies ROMPETROL and was mainly in Romania and Southeastern Europe . In addition to refining, the company focuses on the marketing of petroleum products as well as development, production and other services in the petroleum industry . It came in 2005 for investment of the company in the amount of 1.8 million euros to build a plastics factory.

In April 2005 he also became Vice President for Relations with Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) within the ROMPETROL Group . As such, he is primarily responsible for representing the group of companies in Moscow and establishing and strengthening economic relationships with energy companies in the countries mentioned. In April 2006 he also became a member of the board of directors of the ROMPETROL NV group of companies. In 2007, he was the initiator of the largest financial transaction in Romania when the Kazakh oil and natural gas company KazMunayGas acquired 75 percent of the shares in ROMPETROL for 2.7 billion US dollars.

swell

• Homepage of the government of the Republic of Moldova
• Primeministers of Moldavia ( Memento of July 13, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
• rulers.org
• “Land between East and West. Moldova has been an independent democracy since 1991 "

Individual evidence

1. ↑ "CLASA POLITICA - RETEAUA MAFIEI DE STAT"
2. ^ Alliance for Democracy and Reforms Proposes President Lucinschi to Appoint Ion Sturza for Premiership.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on: moldova.org , February 18, 1999.  
3. ↑ rulers.org - March 3, 1999
4. ^ Ion Sturza: Government to Support Small Business Enterprises.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on: moldova.org , April 30, 1999.  
5. ^ Moldova: No confidence vote against Sturza government successful. Wostok Newsletter 11/1999.
6. ^ IMF Freezes Financial Support For Moldova, Govt. Near collapse. ( Memento of the original from August 29, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. November 6, 1999.  
7. ^ Ian Jeffries: The countries of the former Soviet Union at the turn of the twenty-first century: the Baltic and European states in transition. 2004, ISBN 0-415-25230-X , p. 334.
8. ↑ rulers.org - November 9, 1999
9. ↑ The Rompetrol Group - Managing Board ( Memento of the original from February 13, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
10. ↑ "Rompetrol Group NV announces appointment of the Supervisory Board" ( Memento of the original from October 25, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
11. ↑ "Omul care la făcut miliardar pe Patriciu", EVENIMENTUL ZILEI from July 1, 2008