In October 2001 I.Leancă tendered his resignation expressing thus his disagreement with the foreign policy objectives of the Communist Party of Moldova which came to power earlier that year. Following his resignation, he worked as the Ascom Group deputy CEO (2001–2005, 2007–2009). He worked also as a Senior Adviser to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe High Commissioner on National Minorities (2005–2007).