Funding has increased significantly over the past two and a half years, and a large portion of the investments is directed toward the north and south of the Republic of Moldova. Support is provided primarily through the Romanian Patriarchate and is focused on projects of the Metropolis of Bessarabia.
Among the projects supported by Romania is the Church of Ștefan cel Mare și Sfânt in the village of Aluat, Taraclia District. Romania allocated approximately 500,000 Romanian lei (95,500 euros) last year, and in July 2026, an additional 250,000 lei (47,700 euros) was allocated for furnishings.
In Sînger1, the Church of Saint Theodora of Sihla is under construction; in March 2025, the Romanian government allocated over one million lei (191,000 euros) for this project. In Bălți, construction is underway on the Church of St. Anthony the Great and the Faithful Voivode Stephen the Great and Holy, as well as the episcopal chapel “Resurrection of the Romanian Saints.”
Similar funding is also being allocated for projects in the Cahul and Ungheni districts.
All in accordance with the law
In 2023, Romania passed a law providing for the annual allocation of approximately two million euros for the construction and modernization of religious buildings in the Republic of Moldova.
According to the data provided, from the start of funding in 2024 through the summer of 2026, approximately 4.5 million euros were transferred. With this money, 16 churches have been built or are at various stages of construction. Nine additional grants were allocated for the creation of monastic cells and social settlements attached to churches and monasteries.
Financial support for the clergy in the Republic of Moldova has also increased. The monthly fund for paying priests’ salaries exceeded 100,000 euros, which is approximately ten times more than in 2018.
To expand the influence of the Bessarabian Metropolis
These investments are taking place as the Bessarabian Metropolis, affiliated with the Romanian Patriarchate, seeks to strengthen its presence in a country where the Moldovan Metropolis, which is canonically subordinate to the Russian Patriarchate, continues to exert significant influence.
Researcher Tatiana Cojocari has estimated that the share of the population of the Republic of Moldova that identifies with the Metropolis of Bessarabia has increased from approximately 12% in 2010 to 20–25% today.
Theologian Pavel Palenchar views Romania’s involvement as a form of “soft power,” while the new Metropolitan of Bessarabia, Anthony, describes this support as an “investment in the spiritual and cultural future” of the Republic of Moldova.
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