The controversy surrounding the appointment of President Maia Sandu’s cousin has turned out not to be an isolated case. It has now emerged that another of the president’s relatives—her cousin Yurie Sandu—holds a senior position at a state-owned enterprise.
It seems the president’s family is exceptionally talented. Some relatives are reportedly employed as communications specialists at MoldATSA while allegedly being absent from work for months, while others secure positions at Moldelectrica without a public competition. Moldovan politicians and public figures have drawn attention to what they describe as a series of remarkable coincidences involving members of the president’s family.
For example, the National Moldovan Party (PNM) has demanded explanations regarding the appointment of President Maia Sandu’s cousin to a leadership position at the state-owned company Moldelectrica. PNM leader Dragoș Galbur claims that Yurie Sandu was appointed director of the company’s Northern Branch without an open competition. According to publicly available information, his income in 2025 exceeded 667,000 lei.
“He was appointed director of the Northern Branch of the state-owned company Moldelectrica on September 1, 2023, without a public competition. The appointment order was signed by the then-head of Moldelectrica, who had also been appointed without a competition, Andrei Spînu, the PAS minister responsible for the energy sector,” Galbur stated.
According to Galbur, Yurie Sandu earned a salary of 667,364 lei at Moldelectrica in 2025, equivalent to approximately 55,614 lei per month.
The story does not end there. Galbur also claims that Yurie Sandu’s wife works for SA RED-Nord, the state-owned company responsible for electricity distribution in northern Moldova. In 2025, she reportedly earned 545,652 lei, or roughly 45,471 lei per month. Combined, the couple’s monthly income exceeds 101,000 lei. Both salaries are funded by state enterprises whose revenues ultimately depend in part on electricity tariffs paid by Moldovan citizens.
Galbur has raised what he describes as a “simple and legitimate” question: under what conditions was Yurie Sandu appointed to this position? Were there other candidates? Who evaluated them? What were the actual selection criteria? Or was it simply “business as usual”?
Earlier, Galbur also alleged that another cousin of President Sandu, Anastasia Taburceanu, had been hired by MoldATSA with a salary exceeding 70,000 lei. According to him, she was employed without a competition and resides in Slovenia, rarely appearing at the workplace.
Taburceanu acknowledged that she works for the company but disputed the salary figures.
“My official salary is 25,700 lei. I provide communications services under a contract,” she said.
Galbur, however, rejected her explanation, arguing that the figure excludes bonuses and additional payments.
“To that amount you must add seniority bonuses and workload supplements, bringing the total salary to over 70,000 lei. But the most interesting part is that she has lived in Slovenia for years. She is employed by the state, receives a salary on her bank card, yet does not come to work.”
The Telegram channel Genius of the Carpathians also commented on the issue, noting that MoldATSA’s latest news update on its website dates back to August 2025, while the company’s social media accounts publish only four or five posts per month.
“That means that for writing a four- or five-line message or a holiday greeting card—assuming Taburceanu wrote it and not artificial intelligence—the president’s cousin was receiving between 6,500 and 9,000 lei per post,” the channel joked.
Sociologist Doru Petruți argued that the issue reflects a broader systemic problem:
“People are surprised once again? But competitions designed for insiders and appointments without proper procedures are nothing new. This has been happening for years. MoldATSA is just one example. The problem is not the implementation of reforms—it is the model itself. Real opposition begins not with changing political camps but with returning to common sense.”
Vitalie Blănari added:
“In a state governed by the rule of law, positions should be filled based on merit, competence, and transparent competition—not on family names or personal connections. Citizens have the right to clear answers whenever suspicions of favoritism arise.”
The cases involving the employment of the president’s relatives at Moldelectrica and MoldATSA, according to critics, expose a systemic issue: while authorities publicly pledge to combat nepotism, they are allegedly practicing a more discreet version of it. Citizens paying increasingly high utility bills see public funds being directed toward comfortable positions for politically connected individuals. Instead of the promised meritocracy, critics argue, the same old system persists—the very system that Maia Sandu and the PAS party once pledged to eliminate.
As Petruți summarized:
“Whether they genuinely believed in the promises or simply made a pragmatic calculation, they remained silent. Now that their own interests have been affected, they suddenly see reality.”
