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Natalia Gavriliţa Minister of Finance of the Republic of Moldova/caption
Natalia Gavriliţa was born on September 21 1977 in Chiinău Republic of Moldova. She graduated from the State University of Moldova at Chiinău (with a law degree and a major in international law 2000) then she received a two-year grant (Edmund S. Muskie Graduate Fellowship Program 2003) and graduated from Harvard University the John F. Kennedy School of Government in Cambridge Massachusetts (with a masters degree in public policy 2005).
She worked as a political assistant (Bureau of Political and Economic Affairs United States Embassy in the Republic of Moldova 2000-2003) consultant (Office of the Vice President for Europe and Central Asia World Bank Washington DC United States 2005; Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs European Commission Brussels Belgium 2005-2006) head of department (Department for Policy and Macroeconomic Development Ministry of Economy and Trade of the Republic of Moldova 2007-2008; Policy and Aid Coordination Department Government of the Republic of Moldova 2008-2009) senior consultant (Public Sector Financing and Management Program Oxford Policy Management Oxford United Kingdom 2009-2011) portfolio manager (Valuation Methods Statistics Evidence and Accountability Program Oxford Policy Management Oxford United Kingdom 2011-2013) chief of general staff (Ministry of Education of the Republic of Moldova 2013-2014) deputy minister/state secretary (Ministry of Education of the Republic of Moldova 2014-2015) and general director (Global Innovation Fund London United Kingdom 2015-2019).
Natalia Gavriliţa was appointed Minister of Finance of the Republic of Moldova (June 8 2019 to present).
During the period of September 18 to 19 2019 a delegation of the Government of the Republic of Moldova led by the Prime Minister Maia Sandu visited the United States. Minister Natalia Gavriliţa was a delegation member. On September 18 2019 the delegation met with the Diaspora representatives in Washington DC at the Rayburn House Office Building. At the end of that meeting Minister Natalia Gavriliţa granted me an exclusive interview.
1. Madam Minister Natalia Gavriliţa you are the Minister of Finance of the Republic of Moldova. Tell us what are the goals of your visit to the United States?
We came with the Prime Minister Maia Sandu in order to have a series of meetings with the US officials. And on the one hand to inform about the challenges and opportunities that the government of the Republic of Moldova is facing and on the other hand to ask for the support and assistance of the United States for the reforms or the reform program initiated by this administration.
2. And on the financial line?
On the financial line we have we have had meetings with the Treasury with the United States Ministry of Finance. There I asked on the one hand to consider the assistance in relations in investigating the theft of a billion dollars in Republic of Moldova and punishing those who are guilty of this banking fraud and on the other hand the technical assistance for the development of the financial sector and the state securities market sector of the Republic of Moldova.
3. Very interesting. What are the challenges the Republic of Moldova is now facing in your field of activity?
First we had a short-term challenge of budgetary stabilization and relaunching relations with the IMF and the European Union in order to continue to benefit from direct budget support. On the other hand we need sources of financing for the budget deficit. But in the future we have some major challenges. So it is the formulation of a budget for 2020 which would direct the resources towards the governments development priorities and the growth of some programs which means we need to find again additional sources of funding. And we also have priorities regarding the absorption capacity of Moldova for the funds that are available the transparency of the way the public money is spent the accountability of those who therefore spend the public money. So these are the priorities.
4. Last question Madam Minister. How do you see in your opinion the role of Romania in fulfilling the goals of the Republic of Moldova?
Romania is a very important partner for the Republic of Moldova. We have very good relations. In particular we have priorities in the field of energy cooperation in order to ensure energy independence or to increase the degree of energy independence of the Republic of Moldova. Regarding the Ministry of Finance we are in discussions to access some loans to finance the budget deficit. And in fact we have a series of cooperation programs in all areas. The Minister of Foreign Affairs Nicu Popescu spoke today about our discussion on eliminating roaming tariffs. We have joint projects in education in culture in research in health. So in fact on any dimension of the work of this government both the collaboration with Romania and the assistance of Romania and sharing the experience of European integration are crucial for us.
5. What you are telling me is very encouraging. Thank you very much Madam Minister.
Yes thanks a lot.
NOTE - A version of the article was published in MEDIUM.
TIBERIU DIANU has published several books and a host of articles in law politics and post-communist societies. He currently lives and works in Washington DC and can be followed on MEDIUM.
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