Ion Kiku
In addition, the proposed rules are intended to reduce the difficulties faced by entrepreneurs in their activities in the context of restrictions on the use of cash. The initiative also provides for amendments to a number of legislative acts to reduce the risks of illegal use of cash in transactions.
The initiative was announced by Ion Chicu, former prime minister and member of the Alternative faction. He stressed that the current law, which came into force on April 1, 2925, created serious difficulties for the population and the business environment.
“This law goes far beyond the European framework, which sets fewer restrictions,” Ion Chicu said.
According to the deputy, since this provision came into force, housing sales in Moldova have significantly decreased.
Ion Chicu specified that the proposed draft law provides for the restoration of the previous normative framework, including the rules on sanctions for the violation of the cash payments regime.
In Moldova, there are limits on cash settlements, established by Law No. 34/2024. The main restrictions concern settlements between legal entities (up to 100 thousand lei per month) and large transactions between individuals, such as the purchase of real estate and cars.
When buying real estate, cash can be used if the value does not exceed the equivalent of 100 average salaries in the economy (about 1.3 million lei). And when buying vehicles – the equivalent of 50 average salaries in the economy (about 685 thousand lei).
Transactions exceeding the limits must be carried out in a cashless way. Fines from 3% to 10% of the amount of the violation are stipulated for violating the limits for making or receiving cash payments.
“So far, the real estate market in Moldova continues to break price records, despite the decrease in the number of commercial transactions,” says Serghei Temrin, director of Concept Audit Company. – In 2023, 36.9 thousand residential transactions were recorded, in 2024 – 36.1 thousand, and in the first nine months of 2025, only 24.6 thousand transactions were registered, which is the lowest in the last twenty years. On the other hand, mortgages for home purchase have reached a historic high, becoming the main legal financial instrument for money legalization. Here it should be recalled that by Law No. 122 of 16.08.2019, the authorities changed the rules of tax amnesty. Namely, the conditions for the declaration of funds did not assume an automatic “minus 500 thousand lei”.
At the same time, the legal provisions requiring to prove the legal origin of funds came into force,” Temrin notes. “Some difficulties arose, although there is no emptiness in the economy. When the problems became threatening, in order to fill the economic vacuum, there were proposals of banks, which began to hand out mortgages to people. Moreover, even in cases where people had their own money. The bank mortgage loan became a legal way to legalize money. Interest for the loan in this case is a form of remuneration for the services of legalization”.
Other experts emphasize that the economy has accumulated many arguments both “for” and “against” the abolition of restrictions on cash payments. Therefore, discussions around the parliamentary initiative are likely to be just beginning.
