Weekly Roundup: Moldova’s Pro-Kremlin Politicians Gather in Russia

June 23, 2025

Moldova’s Pro-Russian Politicians Travel to the Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum

Political leaders of the Socialist Party, Communist Party, various Shor-linked parties and the Pobeda Bloc converged in St. Petersburg for Vladimir Putin’s annual St. Petersburg International Economic Forum last week. Igor Dodon attended with multiple Socialist MPs and Ilan Shor attended and met with various leaders from his parties in Moldova including Marina Tauber, Alexei Lungu, Vasile Bolea and others.

During the event, representatives of 4 parties met with senior members of Russia’s Ministry of Energy to discuss "bilateral cooperation in the energy field." This meeting included Igor Dodon (Socialist), Irina Vlah (Heart of Moldova), Vasile Tarlev (Future of Moldova) and Diana Caraman (Communist).

Photo Source Igor Dodon’s facebook.

Following the meeting, Dodon posted on his facebook page that in their meeting with First Deputy Minister of Energy of the Russian Federation, Pavel Iurievich Sorokin, he “stressed the necessity of returning to direct purchases of energy resources, without intermediaries.” Dodon went on to say that “We have completed the first round of negotiations” and that negotiations will continue.

Author’s Analysis: Beyond the fact that none of these people represent the Moldovan government and therefore are in a position to negotiate anything, the composition of this room is very noteworthy. Irina Vlah has been working to position herself as a pro-European politician for most of the last year. Vasile Tarlev was one of Ilan Shor’s candidates in the last election. The appearance of these 4 political parties together in St. Petersburg may foreshadow a new electoral coalition coming together for the September elections. At a minimum, it should put to rest any claims from Vlah of being a supporter of EU integration.

In his speech at the forum, Vladimir Putin reiterated his claims on all of Ukraine saying:

"I have said it many times, I believe that the Russian and Ukrainian peoples are one and the same people. In this sense, all of Ukraine is ours,"

He went on to state that, by virtue of an “ancient rule,” that "the place where a Russian soldier's boot steps is ours."

It is worth noting that there is a Russian military presence in Moldova’s Transnistrian region now.

Shor / Hybrid War News

Here’s a roundup of the other top stories related to the Kremlin’s hybrid war against Moldova:

• Children from Bender have been attending Artek camps in occupied Crimea. Reports state that children from the Transnistrian city have attended the camps, which have a highly militaristic focus on “patriotic education.” Artek has been sanctioned for the organization’s role in the kidnapping and “re-education” of Ukrainian children. The camps in Crimea involved talks from Russian war veterans as well as firearms training and war games.

• Ukraine’s SBU warns about the dangers of Russia recruiting children online for acts of sabotage and terrorism. SBU officers are giving talks in Ukrainian schools warning against accidental recruitment in gamified and paid programs organized online by Russian intelligence. One example is a case where 2 kids, aged 15 and 17, were recruited to place a bomb in a train station. Russia remotely detonated the bomb turning them into unwitting suicide bombers (killing one and severely injuring the other). In addition to children, Russia has been targeting people with drug addictions and mental disabilities with this campaign.

• Marina Tauber is in Russia, having left Moldova in January 2025. Tauber left the country with permission after the court again refused Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s request to place restrictive measures on her. Court cases against Tauber related to the illicit financing of political parties are ongoing in her absence. Chief of the National Police Viorel Cernăuțanu was asked where she is in a recent interview and replied that "I saw her recently, on television. From what we see and the latest events in the Russian Federation, I see that she is active there." He stressed that he hoped that she would return to Moldova as she has promised the court.

• Fugitive MPs Alexandr Nesterovschi and Irina Lozovan are in Transnistria. Chief of the National Police Viorel Cernăuțanu stated that they are in the region under the protection of the “regime.” He noted that while they are there the police have "very few levers" to get them back but that they are "in a kind of legal ghetto." as any attempt to cross back into Moldova or into Ukraine will result in their detention. Both MPs slipped across the border ahead of court sentencing in cases of corruption and illicit party financing in March.

• The Kremlin has launched a massive and coordinated disinformation campaign against a police officer involved in last week’s Pride march. The campaign focuses on one of the police officers who attempted to restrain a counter-protestor who broke through police lines with a small child in his arms. The campaign alleges that the officer is corrupt and that he was guilty of “unjustified use of force against citizens and Church representatives.” Disinformation is being spread across Telegram, TikTok and facebook - with lots of fake accounts using AI generated avatars. Comically, some of these avatars have women’s likenesses but men’s names. Offline Victoria Furtună and Socialist MP Bogdan Țîrdea also released similar messages attacking the officer and calling for him to be criminally prosecuted. Top Kremlin TV propagandist Vladimir Solovyov joined in and dedicated part of his TV show to the story.

Controversy Around the “European Kickboxing Championship”

Mayor Ion Ceban and the Chisinau Primaria (City Hall) planned to host an event they named the “European Kickboxing Championship” in Chisinau from June 22-27. This event was to be held at the Chisinau Athletics Arena in partnership with the “World Kickboxing Federation” WKF. The Mayor claimed that 15 athletes from Russia were registered for the event along with 35 from Belarus, but that some of the Belarusian registrations were from minors who were not going to compete.

ZdG acquired a list of 200 athletes from Russia and Belarus who were planning to participate. The PAS faction in the Chisinau Municipal Council put out a statement about the event saying:

"The championship, which has not received approval from the Ministry of Education, is financed from the municipal budget. The official observer of the competition is a law enforcement officer of the unrecognized PMR [Transnistria]. The mayor's office is holding the event together with the World Kickboxing Federation (WKF), the only structure not recognized by the International Olympic Committee. This federation openly cooperates with Russian authorities, which have fallen under international sanctions, including the Russian Olympic Committee," …

“the mayor will bring more than 200 participants from Russia and Belarus to the capital of Moldova, including military personnel, representatives of the occupied territories of Ukraine, persons under international sanctions, and athletes associated with the special services of Russia and Transnistria.”

Mayor Ceban responded by saying:

"Every day PAS goes to the press, spreads lies, and then runs away because they know they are talking nonsense.”

Today, June 23rd, the Boarder Police announced that 19 foreign citizens were barred from entering the country stating only that:

“They did not provide documents related to the stated purpose of the trip, i.e. participation in sporting events - invitations, tickets, programs in which they were supposed to participate, or other documents that clearly substantiate the purpose of the visit,”

Minister of Education Dan Perciun also put out a statement noting that the ministry is the only body with legal permission to “hold European or world championships on the territory of the Republic of Moldova.” The Ministry is demanding that the Athletics Arena terminate their contract with the event.

Minister Perciun further noted that the leader of the WKF, Fritz Exenberger, had previously been expelled from the (real) International Sport Kickboxing Association (ISKA) for fraud. The Minister went on to note that the Russian delegation involves people associated with their security forces and that the Belarusian delegation includes Dzmitry Shakuta, “who is under sanctions from the United States, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.” He is suspected of murdering Belarusian political activist Roman Bondarenko.

Transnistria’s Crisis Deepens

Transnistrian “leader” Vadim Krasnoselski has submitted a bill to the Supreme Soviet with measures to cope with the budget crisis. Since Russia stopped delivering free gas to the region 5 months ago 50% of the region’s budget has vanished - referred to as the “special gas account.” Indirect hits have followed as heavy industry in the region was totally reliant on free or subsidized energy and output is falling precipitously.

Zona de Securitate reports that the bill submitted by Krasnoselski will split salary payments for state employees into 2 installments from July until December 2025¹. It also compels the city of Tiraspol to transfer 75 million Transnistrian rubles (around 82.5 million lei) to the state budget. Additional, unspecified, amounts are to be transferred from all city, town and district budgets to the central budget. This is assumed to be nearly all local revenue. Starting on July 1st all these local governments must make these transfers daily.

On Friday June 20th gas stations in the region resumed selling propane for cars and household heating resumed in the region after a 2 week break. Zona de Securitate reports that Russia has been delaying payments for gas reaching the region which has caused the acute crisis.

Political Updates

Here’s a roundup of the top politics stories of the week:

• The government has approved a subsidy plan for new workers. Under the plan 3000 lei / month salary supplements will be available for new workers moving into strategic industries - such as ICT, manufacturing, science, art and entertainment / recreation. These salaries are designed to encourage young people to take jobs in Moldova and stay in the country. The Ministry of Economy proposed the project and forecasts 1.7 lei of economic returns for every 1 leu spent on the project in the medium term (2027-2030).

• PAS continues to announce new additions to the party list². PAS leader Igor Grosu stated that Prime Minister Recean will run on the PAS list in the September elections³. Additionally a university rector, civil society activist and representative of the Moldovan diaspora in the UK were announced as candidates.

• The government has approved amendments to the 2025 budget. They approved allocating 1000 lei to each student grades 1-9 at the beginning of the school year. The budget reallocation also will provide Moldova Railways with 50 million lei in support.

• Moldova hosted the 46th World Congress of Vine and Wine from June 16th to 20th. The event brought together more than 300 experts and decision makers from 51 countries working in the wine industry. It involved scientific talks, the presentation of new research and visits to local vineyards. The event involved controversy after the Ukrainian delegation announced they would withdraw from the event because the Russian delegation was permitted to participate with their flags. The Ministry of Agriculture intervened and "Russian symbolism and informational materials (posters) at the Congress venue were removed." The Ukrainian delegation then resumed their participation in the event. Moldova’s Minister of Agriculture apologized for the mishap to Ukraine.

• The Central Election Commission (CEC) has announced the election schedule. Registration of parties and blocs for the election began on June 20th and will continue until August 19th⁴. Campaigning begins on August 29th and the election will be held on September 28th.

• The Alternative Bloc submitted their CEC registration on the first day - June 20th. Speaking after the registration Chisinau Mayor Ceban called the upcoming elections the “most important elections in the history of the country.” Fellow Bloc leader Mark Tkachuk, of the Civic Congress party, sought to outline the bloc’s goals stating:

"Alternative" bloc seeks to become a platform for unity for all citizens, regardless of their geopolitical orientation: "We are those who offer an alternative - not wall to wall, but the unification of all citizens: Eurosceptics, pro-Europeans, supporters of integration - all those who believe in the future of Moldova,"

• The government has approved the initiative to rename the Chisinau airport after Eugen Doga. The airport will soon be called the "Eugen Doga International Airport" (Aeroportul Internațional "Eugen Doga").

Crime, Corruption and Justice Reform

Here’s a roundup of the top justice sector stories of the week:

• The government has nominated former PAS Minister of Justice Sergiu Litvinenco to a seat on the Constitutional Court (CC). Multiple CC judges will see their terms expire in August and efforts to appoint successors are underway. The government has nominated Litvinenco and re-nominated Judge Domnica Manole to a second 6 year term to fill the 2 CC seats appointed by the government. Parliament has re-nominated 2 judges to continue serving from their 2 seat allotment. The Superior Council of Magistracy is currently running an open competition for the 2 seats that they must fill, but thus far have only one candidate who has applied.

• 200 million lei tax evasion investigation targets Shor-linked company Aerofood. Police conducted raids of multiple company properties and seized computers and accounting records last week. The investigation targets 8 individuals in the company, likely the 4 owners as well the company’s accountants and management. Aerofood previously operated the airport’s cafes and catering services until February 2025. The company still operates dozens of cafes, restaurants and bars in Chisinau, Comrat and Cahul, and produces craft beer under the brand Lumencraft. Previously the Security and Information Service (SIS) listed Aerofood as one of the companies linked to Ilan Shor. The company has in the past donated hundreds of thousands of lei to the Shor Party.

• Former SIS director Vitaliy Pîrlog was detained in the UAE. Pîrlog is wanted in multiple jurisdictions for crimes related to his time as the head the Commission for the Control of Interpol's Files. He was reported by Bloomberg as the primary architect of the Interpol corruption scheme that came to light last year. Pîrlog will be extradited to France.

• An employee of Prison #13 was detained in the escape of Anastasia Shadrina. The authorities do not know where the 23 year old Ukrainian convicted of fraud is at this time, though speculate that she is in Transnistria.

• The Ministry of Justice has completed its investigation into the Amnesty Scandal. 3 prison employees have been suspended from their positions and an additional 16 are being disciplined. The investigation blamed the situation on legislative changes that “made it too easy to commute sentences and release prisoners,” and noted that these changes were not properly coordinated through interdepartmental channels. It found that prison administrators did not properly take into account how multiple overlapping paths to amnesty could interact to dramatically shorten sentences. The Ministry is proposing new amendments to close the loopholes while keeping the spirit of the law. MP Olesea Stamate, who was expelled from the party for her role in introducing these amendments, is suing PAS claiming that her expulsion violated the party charter.

• Former Anti-Corruption Prosecutor Veronica Dragalin (technically) failed vetting. Dragalin resigned before her vetting process was complete which resulted in her failing according to the rules in place. Dragalin gave an interview to journalist Gheorghe Gonța⁵ on the issue saying that she will appeal the decision “If I am banned from holding public office in Moldova, not necessarily from running, but from any other public office for 5-7 years.” She claimed that such a thing would be unconstitutional and would result in her going to court.

Economics and Infrastructure

Here are the top stories of the week in economic and infrastructure news:

• Prima Casa mortgage rates are going up. The “first house” subsidized mortgage program will see rate increases of 2.12% following the rise in inflation. Experts project rates to fall again in the first half of 2026 as inflation cools.

• The National Agency for Energy Regulation (ANRE) projects a rise in fuel prices. The agency cites the Israel-Iran-US war as driving prices up at the pump.

• Energy Minister Dorin Jungietu projects rising wholesale electricity prices this summer. The Minister noted that while prices on the Romanian market have recently been falling, Romania will deregulate its energy market on July 1st and remove price controls. Minister Jungietu stated that hot summer weather and consumers using ACs could cause prices to spike in the summer months. He stressed that he does not envision a consumer price hike in Moldova, but that this is an explanation for why prices have not been allowed to fall over the Spring even as the wholesale price has decreased. In Summer Moldova purchases 46% of its electricity from Romania.

1. Salaries in Moldova (and Transnistria) are typically paid in the first week of the month to cover the past month (pay in first week of July to cover work in June, etc). This bill allows for a first payment until the 20th of the month and a second between the 21st and 30th. Essentially they are delaying salary payments due to reduced budget incomes - borrowing the money at zero interest from their workers.

2. With 101 seats in parliament, and a proportional representation system, each party will nominate 101 candidates on their party list. Parties will announce the order of their lists closer to the election.

3. Recall - the Prime Minister does not have to come from Parliament and indeed Prime Minister Recean did not run in any past elections. I explained this system in detail in a podcast last year.

4. A typo incorrectly stating that Bloc registration ends on June 20th was corrected in last week’s roundup.

5. The choice of Gheorghe Gonța for the interview is very interesting. Gonța was forced out of TV channel N4 right before last year’s elections after he called on people to vote “No” in the referendum on EU integration. He is a controversial journalist, who has been accused of being close to pro-Russian politicians. Dragalin’s appearance on Gonța’s show marks a choice to speak on an online program that is vehemently opposed to President Maia Sandu and the PAS government.