CHISINAU, Sept 14 (Reuters) – Moldova’s first president, Mircea Snegur, has died at the age of 83, former Moldovan vice-premier Constantin Tampiza said on Thursday.

“On September 13, at 23:30 the (former) President of the Republic of Moldova Mircea Snegur gave up in the fight against an incurable disease,” Tampiza wrote on Facebook.

Snegur, a former communist, was president from 1990 to 1997, overseeing Moldova’s breakaway from the Soviet Union and transition to independence.