CHISINAU, August 31. /TASS/. Mikhail Gorbachev had sincerely sought to reform the Soviet Union and transform it into a modern and powerful state, however, he did not realize how complicated the situation in the country was, former Moldovan president Pyotr Luchinsky told TASS.

"I knew Mikhail Sergeyevich [Gorbachev] since he had led a party organization in the Stavropol region, and we were friends ever since. I’d like to offer my deepest condolences to his family and friends. Gorbachev left a deep mark by changing the history of the 20th century. There will still be disputes about him - some will be saying that he brought us freedom, others will be blaming him for the demise of the country. But I know only too well that his intentions were absolutely sincere, and everything he did was in pursuit of a natural ambition to transform the Soviet Union into a modern and powerful nation," said Luchinsky, who was a member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1990-1991.

"However, when he [Gorbachev] launched perestroika, he did not imagine how complicated the situation in the country was," Moldova’s ex-president said.

Gorbachev, who led the Soviet Union in 1985-1991, died in Moscow on Tuesday. He was 91.