
Ion Chicu will serve as interim prime minister until December 31, 2020, and then leave the government along with a number of ministers.
He announced this on Thursday after a meeting with the new President of Moldova, Maia Sandu, noting that also by the end of the year, posts of acting the Minister of Health, Labor and Social Protection, the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Economy and Infrastructure will be occupied by Viorica Dumbraveanu, Sergiu Puscuta and Anatol Usatii, and the rest of the fellow ministers will continue their work. Ion Chicu wrote about this on his page on the social network, noting that during the meeting he provided the head of state with basic information on the most important aspects of the functioning of the state, including the fiscal situation, pandemic, state security, issues of the country's reintegration and relations with development partners, etc. Ion Chicu said that he informed the new president of the country that the state public budget at the end of the year will be exceeded in revenue by 1.2 billion lei, compared to the plan set for 2020 (mainly due to the growth of state budget revenues). The budget deficit will be significantly lower than planned - about 5.5% of GDP instead of the planned 8%. Until the end of the year, not a single payment order submitted to the State Treasury will be left without funds. About 2.5 billion lei will remain in the state budget accounts, which is enough to finance budget expenditures on salaries and pensions in January. The country's medical institutions are provided with medicines, medical equipment, protective equipment and other consumables needed to treat people infected with COVID19. Ion Chicu said that the contract for the supply of natural gas to Moldova in 2021 will be extended in the coming days, and the estimated price in the first quarter of 2021 will be about $ 120-122 per 1,000 cubic meters. Over the next few days, government agencies will provide the president with other information requested by Maia Sandu. Ion Chicu wished the new president success, pledging his full readiness to provide support if necessary.// 24.12.2020 — InfoMarket.