According to the expert, Moldova’s economy is already “deeply integrated” into the European space, and the EU has become a “lifeline” for the country.
The volume of trade in goods between Moldova and the EU by the end of 2025 will reach $8.5 billion against $4.1 billion in 2020 and $2.4 billion in 2010. EU countries account for 67.4% of all Moldovan exports. In 2025, Moldovan exports to the European market amounted to $2.6 billion, imports – $5.9 billion.
The largest trade partner of Moldova in the EU remains Romania, which accounts for 46.2% of supplies to the EU countries and 29% of the country’s total exports. Italy and the Czech Republic are next. The basis of Moldovan exports to the EU are automobile components, textiles, textiles, oilseeds, cereals, vegetable oil, furniture, food, fruits and alcoholic products.
The structure of imports from the EU is dominated by fuel, machinery and electrical equipment, vehicles, food products, pharmaceuticals, plastics and metal products.
Ionice also pointed to a sharp increase in European financing. If in 2019, the volume of EU loans for Moldova amounted to $22.4 million, in the first quarter of 2026, it exceeded $181 million. According to the expert’s estimation, at the end of the year, the figure may reach about $945 million.
According to him, the European support plays an important role in ensuring the sustainability of the state budget. The EU participates in financing the budget deficit, pensions, salaries and investment projects. In 2026, the EU’s share will amount to 19.3% of Moldova’s total external borrowings against 4.9% in 2020. Among the country’s external creditors, the EU ranks second after the International Monetary Fund.
The expert also said that in 2025, Moldova received external grants worth 4.7 billion lei, of which almost 59 per cent were provided by the European Commission. Over the last five years, the volume of EU grants for budgetary support and investment projects amounted to about 1.2 billion euros.
Direct investments from EU countries in 2024 reached $3.5 billion, exceeding 72% of total foreign investments in Moldova. The largest investors were Cyprus, the Netherlands, Romania, Germany, Bulgaria, Austria, France, Hungary, Italy and Greece.
