UPDATE 1-Moldova leader names ex-finance minister Gavrilita as new PM

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CHISINAU, July 30 (Reuters) - Moldovan President Maia Sandu said on Friday she was nominating former Finance Minister Natalia Gavrilita to become the new prime minister.

Gavrilita needs to be approved by parliament, where Sandu's PAS party commands a majority after a winning a snap parliamentary election in July on a platform of carrying out reforms and tackling corruption.

Gavrilita, 43, was finance minister when Sandu was prime minister in 2019, in a short-lived government that fell in a no-confidence vote within months. Before that, she worked with British-based consultancy Oxford Policy Management and at the non-profit Global Innovation Fund.

Sandu, who favours closer ties with the European Union, defeated her pro-Russian predecessor Igor Dodon in a presidential election in November and called the snap parliamentary election to consolidate her power.

"I have every confidence that the designated Prime Minister will come with an integrated and professional team," Sandu wrote on Facebook.

(Reporting by Alexander Tanas; writing by Natalia Zinets; editing by Matthias Williams)