site.btaBulgarian-Descended Candidate Becomes Mayor of Moldova's Second-Largest City

Bulgarian-descended Alexandr Petkov is the new mayor of Balti, the second-largest city in Moldova. The winner of the mayoral runoff in the 150,000-population city was nominated for the post by Our Party, led by Renato Usatii.

Petkov is a native of Southern Moldova and will be 51 on November 27. He said he won "a clear victory" in the northern city. He garnered 59.63% of the vote in Sunday's runoff during the nationwide local elections.

In his victory speech, Petkov called on the residents of Balti to participate actively in the life of the city, and said that he expects them to criticize him, Noi.md reported.

Noting that Balti is beset by many problems, he vowed that "the whole team of our party is ready to start working tomorrow". "It is obvious that the residents of Balti expect a revival. We will bring about that revival, you can count on it" he said. "I expect to receive your daily criticism, and I am ready to respond to it. And we will work as a team to give less reason for criticism. I realize it will be hard for all of us. But you can't travel the road if you don't walk."

Already in the first round of voting, Petkov won the highest score, at 22.69%. He needs a court confirmation to take office.