Adrian Lupușor: “Many Crises Resulted From Our Own Mistakes”

Adrian Lupușor: “Many crises were the result of our own mistakes”

Expert-Grup and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation in Moldova are publishing the “Socio-Economic Encyclopedia of Moldova”: 35 years of independence, analyzed through the lens of 35 events. The encyclopedia is a reference work that traces the country’s economic history based on 35 defining events—one for each year of independence (1991–2026).

Адриан Лупушор

According to the authors, each event is analyzed through the lens of “facts, economic, and social impacts.” The study includes the regional and international context and lessons learned, as well as an assessment of the net impact on the country’s development on a scale from −3 to +3.

Of the 35 events, 14 had a “net positive impact,” according to the authors. And 21 events had a negative impact: “from hyperinflation of 1,613.6% in 1993, to the economic collapse that left 71.2% of the population below the absolute poverty line in 1999, and banking fraud equivalent to approximately 12% of GDP, to the introduction of the leu, the severing of energy ties with Russia, candidate country status, and the start of negotiations for accession to the European Union.”

The authors report that they used data exclusively from official sources.

“It is very important to learn lessons from these 35 years and make the most effective use of this historical window of opportunity in the process of European integration,” said Adrian Lupușor, executive director of Expert-Grup and co-author of the study.

“The results of the country’s 35-year history demonstrate an uneven but steady trajectory of development. The economy, measured in terms of purchasing power parity, grew from 15 billion international dollars in 1992 to more than 46 billion in 2025; public debt has fallen from 159% of GDP to approximately 36%, and unemployment has dropped from 14% to 3.5%. At the same time, the population has declined from approximately 3.65 million (excluding the Transnistrian region) to 2.4 million, and convergence with European living standards remains insufficient “in terms of purchasing power,” according to the encyclopedia.

Moldova stands at roughly one-third of the EU average, compared to approximately 78% in the case of Romania, according to the authors. From this trajectory, the authors draw seven lessons for the future—on diversification, the quality of institutions, energy security, and the exhaustion of a model based on consumption and remittances.

The publication is released simultaneously in Romanian, English, and Russian and is accompanied by an interactive online timeline featuring detailed analysis, a quiz, and a number of interesting economic facts.