Moldovan artist takes a swipe at authority with a piggy bank in the shape of… the presidential palace

Moldovan caricature artist Alex Buretz has launched a new product: a model for a piggy bank in the shape of Moldova’s presidential office.

Buretz’s project is a comment on the increased expenses of the presidency, which has doubled over the past three years, from 17 million Moldovan leu (approx. £744,000) to 35 million leu (or £1.5 million). President Igor Dodon, who has been in power since 2016, has faced numerous corruption allegations during his tenure, ranging from massive foreign Kremlin-linked donations to his presidential campaign received via offshore accounts in the Bahamas, to luxury family holidays in the Maldives and Seychelles.

“Put one Moldovan leu in the piggy bank everyday to get 350 at the end of the year, unlike the presidential office building, which requires 100,000 leu per day — or 35 million leu per year! — for its maintenance in 2020,” the piggy bank’s instructions say.

“You, too, can have a little house like this,” Buretz says in the promo video of his mock-product.

Built in 1984-1987, Moldova’s presidential office building re-opened in 2018, nine years after the repairs required by damage caused by violent mass protests in April 2009.

Dodon commented that the extra costs are necessary to cover the demands of new maintenance.

Get your own mock-up here.

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A post shared by Dodon Igor (@dodon_igor) on Nov 28, 2019 at 12:52am PST