Vasile Petru Tarlev (born October 6, 1963) is a Moldova

Moldova

Moldova , officially the Republic of Moldova is a landlocked state in Eastern Europe, located between Romania to the West and Ukraine to the North, East and South. It declared itself an independent state with the same boundaries as the preceding Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1991, as part...

n politician, and was Prime Minister of Moldova

Prime Minister of Moldova

The Prime Minister of Moldova is Moldova's head of government. The prime minister is formally appointed by the President and exercises executive power along with the cabinet subject to parliamentary support.-Moldavian Democratic Republic :...

 from 2001 until 2008.

Biography

He studied engineering and became a member of assorted economic councils. He was appointed Prime Minister on April 19, 2001.

Tarlev is ethnically a Bessarabian Bulgarian and was born in Başcalia

Başcalia

Başcalia is a commune in Basarabeasca district, Moldova. It is composed of a single village, Başcalia....

, Basarabeasca district.

He resigned on March 19, 2008 in an unexpected move, saying that he wanted to make way for "new people."
Parliament approved his resignation on March 20, and President Vladimir Voronin

Vladimir Voronin

Vladimir Nicolaevici Voronin is a Moldovan politician. He was the third President of Moldova from 2001 until 2009 and has been the First Secretary of the Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova since 1994...

 proposed Zinaida Greceanîi

Zinaida Greceanîi

Zinaida Greceanîi is a Moldovan politician. She is a member of the Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova and was the Prime Minister of Moldova between 31 March 2008 and 14 September 2009...

 as his successor; she was approved by Moldovan Parliament on 31 March 2008.