Ciugureanu was one of the founders and leaders of the National Moldavian Party and one of the promoters of the Union of Bessarabia with Romania. On 6 February [O.S. 24 January] 1918, the Sfatul Țării voted unanimously to proclaim the independence of the Moldavian Democratic Republic. The Board of Directors became the Council of Ministers, and Ciugureanu was elected Prime Minister of the new republic. In fact, it was a reconfirmation of the function in the light of the fact that he was elected First Director on 29 January [O.S. 16 January] 1918.
As his grave is not known, in 1993 a cross was installed at the Sighet Cemetery, while his son, Gheorghe Ciugureanu, had a cenotaph erected at the cemetery next to Cernica Monastery, near Bucharest.[3]