Eurasia Press & News
Evghenia Gutul’s victory in the race for governor of autonomous Gagauzia has been dogged by allegations of irregularities. If confirmed, her pro-Russian party, bankrolled by a fugitive oligarch, will have a seat in Moldova’s pro-European cabinet.
Evghenia Gutul may not have much of a political background to speak of, but if her win in the small, pro-Russian region of Gagauzia is validated by election authorities in Moldova, she will have a seat at meetings of the pro-European government in Chisinau.
Gutul, 37, is a member of the Ilan Shor Party, the party of a fugitive Moldovan oligarch convicted of massive bank fraud and linked in media reports to a Kremlin effort to undermine the Moldovan government.
On Sunday, preliminary results gave Gutul victory in the race to become governor of Gagauzia, an autonomous, mainly ethnic Turkic region of southern Moldova that has close ties to Russia. Gutul immediately promised to open a representative office in Moscow.
