Amongst deputy ministers promoted in the Strelet Government there are rich and poor, with thriving and less active businesses, with clean or less clean records. Even if the new public office is incompatible with any other paid post some new deputies continue to administer businesses, some of them in the very field where they have been promoted. Reporters of the Center for Investigative Journalism have X-rayed the declarations of assets and interests of the second level officials of ministries, have checked them through various open databases and we propose below for your attention what assets  and interests these Strelet Government deputy ministers have.

Ministry of Health

Minister of Health, Ruxanda Glavan has changed all deputy ministers. She appointed three new deputies: Gheorghe Turcanu, Valentina Rotaru and Aliona Serbulenco.

Gheorghe Turcanu - businesses in the medical field

He had been a deputy minister of the Ministry of Health before, in 2009-2013, during the mandates of Vladimir Hotineanu and Andrei Usatii. In 2013 he was suspended from duty in connection with the Padurea Domneasca (Royal Forest) scandal, for the the delayed reaction of medical authorities to provide medical aid to the young man who was shot at the hunt in the forest attended by several officials and the hiding of this case. Instead, he was appointed as deputy minister at the Ministry of Labour, Social Protection and Family, a position he held until 2015. He is a pediatric surgeon. From 2008 to 2009 he was director of surgery department at the Scientific Research Institute of Mother and Child.

In the declaration of income and assets for 2014 Gheorghe Turcanu indicated a salary of about 137,000 LEI and a pension of nearly 30,000 LEI. He also owns a Volkswagen Passat, estimated at 130,000 lei, the amount nearly equivalent to his annual salary. In 2015 the Deputy has bought a house of 112 square meters for nearly 150,000 LEI, has shares in a house, estimated at 155,000 LEI, and two apartments.

The new deputy minister does business in the field he works in. He holds shares in two companies: Sana-farm LLC and TT Medizin International GmbH in Germany.

Aliona Serbulenco – business in the medical field

She is an obstetrician gynecologist and since 2012 she has been the medical director of the „Sancos” Clinic of Aesthetic Medicine.

The newly appointed official is one of the most affluent deputies. Besides a salary of 240,000 LEI she earned in 2014, Serbulenco indicates in the declaration of assets an apartment received as inheritance and a villa with a cadastral value of over 1 million LEI. She owns six agricultural plots of land with a total area of 4.2 hectares and a house of 152 square meters received as donation in 2006 (!). Deputy Minister drives a Volvo model car, which she bought in 2015 with 10,000 dollars.

Aliona Serbulenco also does business in the medical field. She is the founder of „Serbulenco Aliona” LLC. The company has been operating since 2000 and is specialized in several areas, the main one being the medical practice.

Valentina Rotaru – business administrator 

She comes from the hospital sector, where for many years she was head of the Pediatrics department of the Municipal Hospital for Children "Valentin Ignatenco", previously also head of the Central Hospital "Moldovan Railways" and head of the Pediatric Nephrology Section at the Mother and Child Institute.

In her income and assets statement for 2014 Valentina Rotaru indicated that she earned 110,000 LEI as salary, that she has a house of 85,1 square meters with a cadastral value of 55 thousand lei and a Nissan car, purchased in 2015 with 4,000 LEI. Data from the Cadastre show that Valentina Rotaru forgot to indicate that she also has an ancillary building next to the house, with an area of 24.6 square meters.

Valentina Rotaru, like her peers, does business in the health sector. Together with Alexandru Cojocaru in 2012 she set up "Santel-M" LLC specialized in provision of medical assistance. The company is registered at the domicile of Valentina Rotaru and, according to the State Registration Chamber she is currently the administrator of the company. Given that is she is Deputy Minister, this is is incompatible with any other remunerated position.

Ministry of Economy

Under the leadership of Christophe Stephane Bride, the Ministry of Economy kept the same deputy ministers Octavian Calmac and Valeriu Triboi, and one newly-appointed, Vitalie Iurcu, former director of Moldtelecom.

Vitalie Iurcu – business worth of millions with his friends’ companies

He joined the civil service after being the manager of Moldtelecom, a state-owned company. Iurcu was promoted despite the fact that several reports of the Court of Accounts revealed violations in the management of the company. Furthermore, several press investigations carried out by the reporters of the Center for Investigative Journalism and Ziarul de Garda exposed the schemes through which the majority of public procurement contracts of Moldtelecom were awarded to his friends and business partners, through a group of companies. During his management no public procurement was run through the public procurement system, while the information about tender results was never made public.

According to the 2013 income and assets statement, Iurcu received almost half a million lei as wages. He owns seven plots of land with a cadastral value of over 2.5 million lei, an apartment with 94 square meters, worth over 600 thousand lei, two houses estimated at about 2.3 million lei and a Porsche Cayenne, the cost of which would be two times the annual income of the former Director of Moldtelecom. In 2014, the income statement of Moldtelecom director was verified by the National Integrity Commission, following an anonymous letter, which stated that Iurcu would have bought the majority package of shares of „Zikkurat”, a company which sells building materials. The investigation was ultimately closed.

According to State Registration Chamber the name of Vitalie Iurcu is listed as founder of two companies. The first of them, "Iurcu Vitalie" LLC specialized in providing business and management advisory services was declared by the official and registered in Iurcu spouses’ apartment on Petru Rares Street. Also, Iurcu is also one of the founders of "Progestact" LLC together with several people, including former minister of interior, Dorin Recean and former Communist party MP, Iurie Muntean, along with another 35 other persons.

Another press investigation reveals that through a nephew of his, Iurcu is involved in the activity of several companies dealing with agriculture. Also, through his nephew, the current Deputy Minister of Economy rents half a hectare of forest near Ialoveni, the forest where, in 2014, during working hours, Moldtelecom employees were working, paid from the state money.

Octavian Calmac – Former state representative in the Administration Board of Banca de Economii of Moldova

Has worked as Deputy Minister of Economy for nearly six years, since October 2009. By his official position he used to be the state representative on the Board of Administration of the Savings Bank, but stated he did not participate in voting the suspicious decisions, as being in the minority. For 2013, Octavian Calmac indicates a salary of 154,000 lei and another 422,000 lei as state representative in Moldexpo, Moldova Gaz JV, Certification Center of Applied Metrology and the Technical Center for Industrial Security. In addition, together with his wife they had earnings worth 45 thousand lei from the company they own - AI-Export LLC, specialized in trade and export. Calmac also declared two houses with a cadastral value of nearly 700 thousand lei and a Toyota car, purchased in 2013 at a price of 400 thousand lei.

Valeriu Triboi - prosperous business, land and real estate

He came to the Ministry of Economy in July 2014, previously occupying the post of the director of the Public Property Agency, an institution subordinated to the same ministry. The official holds an impressive wealth of several million lei, with business in real estate and construction.

In the income and assets statement for 2013, he shows four Moldovan companies with an equity capital of about 3.7 million lei: Melanto & Co, Cvadro & Co, Cvadro Therm LLC and Lina Capital LLC. Therm Cvadro has the legal address at Melanto & Co address, a company based in Codru town and administered by the deputy’s wife, Agnesa Triboi. Also she is the manager of Cvadro & Co, a company whose legal address is registered in deputy minister mother's apartment, Sofia Triboi, who has a share in the company.

Valeriu Triboi’s mother is related to other businesses, as well. Thus, following a dispute between "Merant Plus" LLC, "Anevas Cuant" LLC and "Agro Ialovenienii" LLC three unfinished apartment blocks from Ialoveni town passed under the ownership of Triboi Sofia. Merant Plus company is founded and managed by Igor Lipceanu. He is listed as manager of the Lina Kapital firm, specialized in real estate, just as Lina Capital company of Valeriu Triboi. He also appears as a representative of Finpar Invest, which previously the media wrote to be controlled by Plahotniuc.

Valeriu Triboi owns three apartments, a retail space of 871 square meters valued at only 300,000 lei and other 202 square meters worth 200,000 lei. Triboi also owns more than 30 plots of land worth over two million lei. In terms of movable estate the official indicated two BMW cars, purchased at 700 thousand lei in total.