Renato Usatii, the former mayor of Balti and leader of the “Our Party,” is the third candidate officially registered by the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) for the presidential elections. Born on November 4, 1978, in Falesti, he was previously married to Carolina Tampiza and has three children: two daughters and a son. Usatii speaks Romanian, Russian, and English.
Usatii studied at the Alecu Russo State University in Balti, where he attended the Faculty of Foreign Languages. He worked as a supervisor at Chisinau International Airport from 2000 to 2001. From 2002 to 2004, he served as a senior engineer at the Moldovan Railway’s catering company. Since 2005, he has been the president of a firm operating in Russia.
In 2014, Usatii took over the Republican Popular Party and renamed it “Our Party.” He tried to enter the parliamentary elections that year, but his party was excluded due to accusations regarding its financial reports. The following year, he ran in the local elections in Balti and won the mayoral seat with 72.46% of the votes. Usatii also won re-election in 2019, securing a second term as mayor with over 60% of the votes.
In the 2020 presidential elections, Renato Usatii finished in third place. A year later, in the parliamentary elections, his electoral bloc “Renato Usatii” received only 4.10% of the votes (with a threshold of 7%) and missed entering Parliament. This year, the politician is running again for the presidency, arguing that a total reset of the state and a new Constitution are needed.
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Usatii’s name is associated with several scandals, including the raider attack on the Moldovan bank Universalbank. Numerous press articles have speculated about his connections to the criminal world, suggesting that he may have received financial support from individuals within that environment. In October 2016, he was accused of ordering the murder of a banker in London and subsequently offering the assassin $600,000 to change his statements.
According to the declaration of assets and personal interests submitted to the CEC, Usatii reported a salary of nearly 600,000 lei from the party in 2023. Additionally, he received a significant donation of 2 million euros from a non-resident individual that year. Usatii owns 18 plots of land, including agricultural and urban properties, six houses, an apartment, and a garage, some located in Moldova and others in Russia.
In terms of vehicles, he boasts a 2020 Mercedes purchased for 1,186,200 lei, a Land Rover costing 1,886,342 lei, and a water scooter acquired in 2021 for nearly 450,000 lei. His collection also includes three luxury watches from the brand Breguet—two of which he bought and one he received as a gift—with a total value of around 250,000 euros. Usatii holds bank accounts in Moldova and Russia and has a stake in a foundation called “Moldova Noastra.”
Renato Usatîi Declarația de… by Realitatea.md
Bright Communications produced this material as part of the “Be informed, vote consciously” Project, supported by the Promo-LEX Association and funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The opinions expressed in the material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Promo-LEX Association and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).