Recent years have brought a consolidation of Romania’s status as Moldova’s main economic partner. This means that Romania is the main foreign investor in Moldova’s economy, the main market for Moldovan exports and the main supplier of imports.
And this status is about to be strengthened. The Romanian government is debating a draft law, which provides state loans and guarantees for Romanian companies that want to invest in Moldova. The draft is expected to be adopted by this autumn, and the facilities will remain in place for three to five years, say government representatives in Bucharest.
These facilities will be granted mainly for areas that can generate high added value. Such as energy, infrastructure, manufacturing, agriculture or food industry. But the list of areas may be extended, following discussions between the governments in Bucharest and Chișinău.
The decision comes as economic relations between Romania and Moldova strengthen. According to data from the National Bank of Romania, Romania exported goods and services worth €2.1 billion to Moldova in 2022. The figure is up 61 percent compared to 2021 and 134 percent compared to 2020. In total, 3,800 Romanian companies exported to Moldova. Romania exported machinery, equipment, consumer goods and energy to Moldova.
Moldova’s exports have also increased above the €1 billion threshold. This is an increase of 64 percent compared to 2021 and 94 percent compared to 2020. Moldova exported mainly wine, fruit and vegetables to Romania.
In total, around 4,000 companies with Moldovan or mixed capital are registered in Romania. They employ more than 5,000 people, have a combined turnover of around RON 3.5 billion and assets of around RON 3 billion.
Approximately 3 billion lei is also the value of Romanian direct investment in Moldova. To this must be added the investments made by the Romanian state, direct financial aid, as well as European funds to which Romania also contributes through payments to the general budget of the European Union.