Minister of Infrastructure Andrei Spinu, a close collaborator of Moldova’s pro-EU President Maia Sandu, announced his resignation on November 11. 

Spinu’s decision to step down is seen as a potential voluntary first step in the government reshuffle announced by Sandu in response to public criticism of the executive’s performance in key areas. Sandu, who just won her second term, announced last week that the reshuffle is imminent, after promising such a step during the presidential campaign.

Minister of Interior Adrian Efros, Minister of Economy Dumitru Alaiba and Minister of Justice Veronica Mihailov-Moraru are on the shortlist for replacement, according to sources familiar with the negotiations consulted by Unimedia.

Spinu also stepped down from the ruling Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS).

After the 2021 parliamentary elections, Spinu served as the minister of infrastructure, energy and regional development in the first PAS cabinet led by Natalia Gavrilita, and then as infrastructure minister in the cabinet of current Prime Minister Dorin Recean. He has been a top consultant to Sandu since 2020. 

He came under criticism in several situations including the handling of the energy procurement process, the failed tender for renting out the commercial area of Chisinau Airport and several controversial infrastructure projects.

The significant revenues derived from business carried out through companies registered abroad exposed him to corruption allegations.

"He is directly or indirectly linked to businesses in jurisdictions such as Cyprus, Hong Kong, Delaware and Belize," an investigation carried out by RISE Moldova concluded.

Spinu denied everything, saying that everything written in the investigation was a lie. But his statement of income includes significant revenues from abroad: MDL3.5mn (€175,000) out of the MDL4.1mn total revenues declared in 2023, according to Newsmaker.

To explain his revenues, Spinu said that he had a technical translation business, and admitted that his company had multimillion-dollar turnover.