Spending by the Presidency Increased by More than 40% over the Past 4 Years

During the 2020 election campaign, Sandu cited reducing the spending of the presidential office as one of her top priorities. Thus, while in 2021 the expenses totaled 29.7 million lei, this year the amount has reached 42.1 million lei. The budget of the President’s Office for 2025 is 11% higher than last year’s budget. More than half of these expenditures, 22 million lei, are allocated to staff salaries. This expenditure also showed the biggest increase in the last four years. In 2021, 13.3 million lei was allocated to pay the salaries of employees of the presidential apparatus, ziua.md reported. In addition, this year the President’s Office will spend 2.1 million lei on protocol services and trips abroad. In 2025, considerably more money will be spent on non-financial assets than in previous years. This is 4.9 million lei, of which more than 1 million lei will be spent on the purchase of cars and equipment, on repairs and on foodstuffs. At the same time, an amount of 2.3 million lei is indicated under the item “Acquisition of other materials”. We shall remind you that in autumn 2020, during the first election campaign for the presidency, Maia Sandu launched her first 10 priority actions as head of state “to lift the country out of poverty and improve the people’s welfare”. Maia Sandu said the main priority was to reduce the expenses of the President’s Office. “In a country where most people live in poverty, a responsible president does not afford luxuries. I will make a proposal to reduce the president’s expenses. I will tear down the fence outside the President’s Office and be closer to the people. I will ensure that the luxurious residences of the president and the unused facilities of the presidency building are used for public interest. This reduction of expenses will be an example for other institutions,” Maia Sandu said in November 2020.