Buzu: Local Councils that Do Mot Merge Voluntarily Will Receive No Funding

Local authorities that refuse to agree to voluntary amalgamation will not receive financial support from the state. This was stated by the Secretary-General of the Government, Alexei Buzu. The official explained the complex demographic and administrative situation in small settlements, emphasizing that they are becoming increasingly difficult to manage due to population decline and a shortage of specialists, writes ipn.md. “The figures speak for themselves. In small municipalities, the rate of depopulation is rising. In settlements with 1,200-1,600 inhabitants, the population will shrink even further in 15 years. The tax base will decrease. 20% of all civil servants work in the local public administration of the Republic of Moldova, yet they account for 50% of all civil servants who are pensioners. Consequently, it will be difficult for such a local council to attract specialists and remain competitive,” said Alexei Buzu on the program În Context on the M1 television channel. The Secretary-General of the Government noted that the authorities will not allow the reform to be blocked for political reasons and that localities must not suffer because of the indecision of local elected representatives. “We do not want to find ourselves in a situation where the residents of these localities become hostages to political indecision. If local elected representatives are unwilling to initiate this voluntary merger process, which is accompanied by incentives, then as early as this autumn the Government will propose a list of municipalities, and these municipalities will simply be merged with others in the region. Municipalities that do not merge voluntarily will not receive financial incentives,” added Alexei Buzu. The concept of local public administration reform provides for a reduction in the number of districts from 32 to 10. Furthermore, there will no longer be any municipalities in the Republic of Moldova governing settlements with fewer than 3,000 inhabitants.