PSRM urges mayor to prioritize social projects in Chișinău budget
Councilors from the Party of Socialists (PSRM) in the Chișinău Municipal Council (CMC) have called on Mayor Ion Ceban to revise the 2025 municipal budget and to prioritize social projects that support the capital’s residents.
They accused the local administration of lacking transparency, ignoring amendments from the opposition, and mismanaging public funds.
At the same time, the socialists publicly proposed forming an official coalition with the National Alternative Movement (MAN) to unblock the council’s activity. In response, representatives of the Chișinău City Hall accused PSRM and the Action and Solidarity Party (PAS) councilors of using the municipal budget issue as a pretext for electoral campaigning.
According to PSRM councilors, the current budget draft does not reflect the social priorities of Chișinău’s residents and was created without genuine consultation with all political forces represented in the CMC.
“This budget includes various regulations that were not consulted. Each of these regulations must be individually consulted with civil society and each faction in the CMC. Mr. Mayor, the budget is not an instrument for factional blackmail. The budget is about political compromise,” said PSRM councilor Ala Ursu-Antoci during a press conference.
Additionally, PSRM councilors criticized that their proposed amendments were disregarded, and they claimed the final document favors political and personal interests.
“The mayor’s duty is, first and foremost, to reconcile all factions within the CMC. Privatizing the budget is beyond the capability of a leader, especially when we are no longer just talking about a mayor but a politician seeking to divide everything with those in government. We want to believe that you, as mayor, are still alongside the municipality’s residents and pay attention to all aspects related to the development of the city and the people still living in Chișinău and its suburbs. People are waiting for solutions to unblock the situation in the CMC,” added councilor Vlad Melnic.
Meanwhile, the leader of the PSRM faction in the CMC, Adrian Lebedinschi, proposed to the mayor the formation of a coalition with MAN as a solution for “responsible governance” of the capital: “The ball is in his court (referring to Mayor Ion Ceban).”
Previously, the PAS faction in the CMC also made several budget proposals and announced that it would support the document if these proposals were considered by the City Hall leadership. Natalia Ixari, spokesperson for Mayor Ion Ceban, told Teleradio-Moldova that the municipal budget was revised and resubmitted to the Chișinău Municipal Council after the government withdrew 98 million lei initially allocated for modernizing school canteens.
According to her, this is already the fifth session where the document is put to a vote, yet the PAS and PSRM factions continue to refuse to adopt it, preferring “to put on a show around the topic.” “Although many councilors and those who have read the budget say it is a good one, they do not have the ‘mandate’ to vote for it. As the mayor said earlier, there is no political will. The budget was proposed back in December, revised, coordinated, consulted, and it is ready to be voted on,” Ixari said.
It is worth noting that Chișinău has faced difficulties in approving its municipal budget on time for the second consecutive year. According to legislation, the annual budget must be approved by the end of December of the previous year, but councilors have failed to reach consensus even in the first half of 2025.
As a result, Chișinău has been operating since the beginning of the year on a provisional budget approved by Mayor Ion Ceban’s decree. This budget estimates revenues of 8.17 billion lei and expenditures of 8.75 billion lei, resulting in a deficit of 580 million lei.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
