Mr. Candu entered politics in late 2010 as an elected MP on behalf of the Moldovan Democratic Party (PDM). He is one of the trusted persons of PDM leader Vladimir Plahotniuc; the latter also acts as Mr. Candu’s godfather.
In 2013 he was elected to the position of deputy president of the Parliament. From July 2014 he served as deputy prime-minister and economy minister. It was then when Moldova started buying electricity from the Cuciurgan Power Plant via an intermediate firm based in Tiraspol, founded over one night, by offshore shareholders. As deputy premier and economy minister, Mr. Candu left his signature for the first guarantee of 9.5 billion lei which the Government released to cover the hole in the banking sector as a consequence of the fraud.
In January 2015 he returned to the legislation job, as the speaker of Parliament. The February 2019 elections bring him back into legislature on the lists of PDM.
RISE Moldova has published a number of documents demonstrating that while holding a public office Mr. Candu continued to represent by mandate the interests of Vladimir Plahotniuc’s companies abroad.
A legal specialist by training, in the past Mr. Candu had worked for the Moldovan representation of Pricewaterhouse Coopers and in 2010 – just before embracing a political career – he ran Prime Management SRL, a company controlled by Plahotniuc where Mr. Candu owned between 5 and 10% stake.
Political Affiliation
Private Function
Public Function
Career
02.2020
Parliament
07.2021
member „Pro Moldova”
03.2019
Parliament
02.2020
member
01.2015
Parliament
06.2019
member, president
07.2014
Government
01.2015
deputy prime-minister, minister of Economy
05.2013
Parliament
07.2014
deputy president
12.2010
Parliament
05.2013
member
1998
Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Policy
2002
senior consultant
2010
Prime Management SRL
2010
CEO
2002
Isimbardi International SRL
2003
executive director
2002
Pricewaterhouse Coopers Moldova
2010
senior manager
2001
Compudava SRL
2002
legal adviser
2000
The Academy of Public Administration to the President of the Republic of Moldova