Roman Cojuhari resigns as head of Moldova’s Public Property Agency amid MoldATSA scandal

The Moldovan interim government approved the resignation of Roman Cojuhari as director general of the Agency for Public Property (APP) on 15 July. Cojuhari had announced his departure two weeks earlier, saying he was taking responsibility for the agency’s failure to closely monitor decisions made by the state-owned enterprise MoldATSA.

The resignation follows a media‑driven scandal at MoldATSA that exposed irregularities in salary payments, questionable hiring practices and alleged falsifications in the CV of its former director Dumitru Vangheli. The controversy also led to the withdrawal of Deputy Radu Marian from the chair of the parliamentary Committee for Economy, Budget and Finance.

Effective 16 July, the duties of the APP director will be carried out on an interim basis by Ion Ciumac, the agency’s deputy director general. Ciumac is a lawyer with extensive experience in public law and previously headed the Moldovan chancery office in Chișinău.

The episode underscores heightened scrutiny of public‑asset management in Moldova and the political pressure to ensure transparency and accountability in state‑owned enterprises.