Ion Chicu (; born 28 February 1972) is a

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The List of states ...

n politician who served as

Prime Minister of Moldova The Prime Minister of Moldova ( ro, Prim-ministrul Republicii Moldova) is Moldova's head of government. The Prime Minister is formally appointed by the President of Moldova and exercises executive power along with the cabinet, subject to parliam ...

between 2019 until his resignation in 2020.

Biography

He was born on 28 February 1972 in the village of Pîrjolteni, located in the Moldovan

Călărași District Călărași () is a district ( ro, raion) in the centre of Moldova, with the administrative headquarters in Călărași, Moldova, Călărași. As of January 1, 2011, its population was 78,800. History The district territory is inhabited since P ...

. He graduated from the Faculty of Management at the

Academy of Economic Studies of Moldova The Academy of Economic Studies of Moldova (ASEM; Romanian: ''Academia de Studii Economice a Moldovei'') is a university located in Chişinău, Moldova. Organization The university is organized into six faculties: * Business Management and Ad ...

. In 2005, he worked as director of the General Directorate of Structural Reforms of the Ministry of Economy and Trade. In the mid-late 2000s, he was the Deputy Minister of Finance of Moldova. From April 2008 to September 2009, he was the chief state adviser to Prime Minister

Vasile Tarlev Vasile Tarlev (born October 6, 1963) is a Moldovan politician. Background and earlier life He studied engineering and became a member of assorted economic councils. After 2001 Moldovan parliamentary election, He was appointed Prime Minister on A ...

on economic issues and external relations. He also served as chairman of the Strategic Development Council of the

Nicolae Testemițanu State University of Medicine and Pharmacy Nicolae Testemițanu State University of Medicine and Pharmacy (USMF; ro, Universitatea de Stat de Medicină și Farmacie „Nicolae Testemițanu”) is a university located in Chișinău, Moldova. The institution began its activity in 1945. It i ...

, worked as a consultant on public finance management in various projects. In January 2018, he was appointed Secretary General of the Ministry of Finance and in December of that year he became the

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

. He resigned from this post during the

2019 Moldovan constitutional crisis In mid-2019, a sequence of events following the 2019 Moldovan parliamentary election – and the subsequent attempts to form and install a new government, culminated in the positions of Prime Minister and Speaker of the Parliament, as well as th ...

which brought down the

Filip Cabinet The Filip Cabinet was the Cabinet of Moldova led by Pavel Filip from January 2016 to June 2019. Overview After the dismissal of previous cabinet, no consensus was reached by the three pro-European parliamentary parties - Liberal Democratic Par ...

. He is married with three children. After his term as Prime Minister ended, he subsequently founded his own political party in 2021, more specifically the Party of Development and Consolidation of Moldova, with a stated

pro-European Pro-Europeanism, sometimes called European Unionism, is a political position that favours European integration and membership of the European Union (EU).Krisztina Arató, Petr Kaniok (editors). ''Euroscepticism and European Integration''. Polit ...

ideology. He failed to obtain any seats in the 11th legislature of the Moldovan Parliament after 11 July 2021.

Premiership (2019–2020)

On 14 November 2019, the government of Prime Minister

Maia Sandu Maia Sandu (; born 24 May 1972) is a Moldovan politician who has been the President of Moldova since 24 December 2020. She is the former leader of the Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) and former Prime Minister of Moldova from 8 June 2019 un ...

was defeated in a vote of no confidence after attempts to pass bills to change the judicial system. With the support of just over 60% of MPs, Chicu was approved as a replacement Prime Minister. The same day he announced that his government would "fulfill all obligations of the state to external partners and international financial organizations, primarily the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank". At the time of his appointment, he was described by President

Igor Dodon Igor Dodon (; born 18 February 1975) is a Moldovan politician who previously served as the president of Moldova from 23 December 2016 to 24 December 2020. He currently serves as the leader of the Party of Socialists of the Republic of Moldova. H ...

as "a technocrat, a professional who has not been in any political party",Moldovan Parliament Approves New 'Technocratic' Government
November 14, 2019 rferl.org although Chicu did serve as an advisor to President Dodon. The day after, he was introduced to a new

Cabinet of Ministers A cabinet is a body of high-ranking state officials, typically consisting of the executive branch's top leaders. Members of a cabinet are usually called cabinet ministers or secretaries. The function of a cabinet varies: in some countries ...

by President Dodon, which included

Victor Gaiciuc Victor Gaiciuc (born 12 March 1957) is a Moldovan military general, who served as Moldovan Minister of Defense until August 2021. He was also the National Security Advisor to former president Igor Dodon. He is currently the chairman of the Union ...

as defense minister and

Pavel Voicu Pavel Voicu (born 29 January 1973) is a Moldovan politician who was the Minister of Defence of Moldova in the Sandu Cabinet and the Interior Minister under President Igor Dodon and Prime Minister Ion Chicu. He was also a personal advisor to Dod ...

as interior minister. On 20 November, he went to

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

on his first working visit, where he held talks with Prime Minister

Dmitry Medvedev Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev ( rus, links=no, Дмитрий Анатольевич Медведев, p=ˈdmʲitrʲɪj ɐnɐˈtolʲjɪvʲɪtɕ mʲɪdˈvʲedʲɪf; born 14 September 1965) is a Russian politician who has been serving as the dep ...

. In May 2020, during a

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

fight with Romanian MEP

Siegfried Mureșan Siegfried Mureșan (born 20 September 1981) is a Romanian economist and politician, vice-president of the European People's Party (EPP) since November 2019, vice-president of the European People's Party Group (EPP Group) in the European Parliamen ...

, he declared

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

to be the most corrupt country in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. Mureșan responded by criticizing the Moldovan government for not implementing reforms or fighting corruption. Chicu's words caused controversy in Romania. In fact, Moldovan-born Romanian deputy Constantin Codreanu requested the withdrawal of Chicu's Romanian citizenship. Other Romanian authorities also criticized his words. However, collaboration during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

continued between the two countries. Chicu would later apologize during a meeting with the Romanian ambassador in Moldova Daniel Ioniță, reiterating his thanks to the country for its help to Moldova during the pandemic. He tested positive for COVID-19 on 9 December 2020. Chicu and his government resigned as Prime Minister on 23 December 2020 amid protests demanding early parliamentary elections. He initially continued as acting prime minister but refused to stay on until a new government was formed, and was replaced by

Aureliu Ciocoi Aureliu Ciocoi (; born 5 June 1968 in Chișinău) is a Moldovan diplomat who has served as Acting Prime Minister of Moldova between 2020 and 2021, as Minister of Foreign Affairs since 9 November 2020. He also served as foreign minister in 2019 an ...

on 31 December 2020.Președintele Republicii Moldova, Maia Sandu, a semnat decretul de numire în calitate de premier interimar a domnului Aureliu Ciocoi
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Politics after premiership

On 31 March 2021, the

Party of Development and Consolidation of Moldova Party of Development and Consolidation of Moldova (PDCM; ro, Partidul Dezvoltării și Consolidării Moldovei) is a political party in Moldova led by former Prime Minister Ion Chicu. History On 31 March 2021, Ion Chicu announced in his telegram ...

was founded by Chicu; it was officially registered on 17 April of that year.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chicu, Ion 1972 births Living people People from Călărași District 21st-century Moldovan economists 21st-century Moldovan politicians Moldovan Ministers of Finance Prime Ministers of Moldova