Translated material
Premier with beauty
Women will strengthen the new government of Moldova
The new government of Moldova, which includes six ladies, including Prime Minister Zinaida Greceanii (pictured) , will certainly brighten the appearance of the republic's leadership. Yesterday, 56 out of 101 parliamentarians voted for the composition and program of the cabinet. All of them represent the ruling Party of Communists. Deputies from other factions abstained.Former Prime Minister Vasily Tarlev, who ruled the government for a record seven-year term for the republic, resigned on March 19. Along with him, in accordance with the law, the entire government, in which Ms. Greceanii served as first deputy prime minister, also left. The day before, at the congress of the Communist Party, its leader and president of the country, Vladimir Voronin, spoke in favor of updating the leadership: “People are tired of the same people in the same positions.”
Immediately after Tarlev’s resignation, President Voronin introduced Zinaida Greceanii to the Communist Party faction as a candidate for the post of prime minister: “She has good professional training and administrative experience.”
Greceanii, in collaboration with the presidential administration, developed a program called “Progress and Integration” and formed a new team, doubling the representation of the fairer sex in it. In addition to herself, as well as the Ministers of Ecology and Social Protection Violeta Ivanova and Galina Balmos, who retained their positions, the new government included the Minister of Finance Marianna Durlesteanu (still the Ambassador of Moldova to the UK), the Minister of Health Larisa Katrinich (she was the head of the treatment and preventive department Cabinet Office) and Minister of Education and Youth Larisa Shavga (Vice-Rector of the Cooperative-Commercial University).
In total, 12 out of 16 cabinet members retained their posts, and among them was the Minister of Reintegration Vasily Shova, who is responsible for relations with Transnistria. The former head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Georgiy Papuk, who was accused by the opposition of submitting fake documents on higher education, was replaced by the director of the Center for Combating Economic Crimes and Corruption, Valentin Mezhinsky. The first deputy prime minister was Igor Dodon, who retained the portfolio of Minister of Economy and Trade. Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration Andrei Stratan and Deputy Prime Minister for Social Issues Viktor Stepaniuc retained their posts. According to rumors, their resignation was sought by influential presidential adviser Mark Tkachuk.
When asked by Vremya Novostey whether one can count on the new team not only to decorate the political landscape of Moldova, but also to improve it practically, former Speaker of Parliament, leader of the Democratic Party Dmitry Dyakov noted that “the current leadership of the country hopes to kill two birds with one stone”: “But if the cabinet can cope with the first, image-building task, it will be difficult to fulfill the second. There are very few resources. Moreover, on the eve of the 2009 parliamentary elections, the cabinet will be required to make populist decisions that have no real basis.” Yesterday, Mr. Mrs. Greceanii, in her first speech as prime minister, promised to continue the course taken by the previous cabinet.
The pro-presidential press has already published complimentary articles about the new prime minister under the characteristic headings “Weaving the mind with beauty.” Zinaida Grechanaya was born in 1958. She graduated from the Chisinau Financial and Economic College, and then from the State University with a degree in economics. Since 1994, she held senior positions in the Ministry of Finance, and in 2002 she headed it. In 2005, Greceanii was appointed first deputy prime minister. In this position, she was the co-chair of the Russian-Moldavian commission on trade and economic cooperation, overseeing negotiations with Gazprom on Russian gas supplies.
The new prime minister assures that, despite her busy schedule, she manages to pay attention to her family (she has two children) and sometimes even cooks for her family. True, he prefers simple but tasty dishes. Here is one of the new prime minister’s favorite recipes: cut meat, vegetables, potatoes into pieces, pour in broth and place in a cauldron overnight on low heat in the oven. The fact that this obviously does not save gas can be ignored by the curator of negotiations with Gazprom.