Currently in Moldova, a company is classified as an SME according to three main criteria: number of employees, annual turnover, total assets. The evaluation criteria under the current legislation are as follows:
– microenterprise – up to 9 employees and turnover less than 18 million lei or total assets up to 18 million lei;
– small enterprise – from 10 to 49 employees, turnover less than 50 million lei or total assets up to 50 million lei;
– medium-sized enterprise – from 50 to 249 employees, turnover less than 250 million lei or total assets up to 100 million lei.
This classification determines the access to different support programs and determines the tax obligations specific to each category.
The European requirements, which are going to be implemented by the Government of the Republic of Moldova, are very different. First of all, on the annual turnover of companies. They are as follows:
– microenterprise – less than 10 employees and an annual turnover of no more than 2 million euros (approximately 40 million lei);
– small enterprise – less than 50 employees and a turnover of up to EUR 10 million (approximately MDL 200 million);
– medium-sized enterprise – less than 250 employees and turnover up to 50 million euros (approximately 1 billion lei).
If these criteria are adopted, some enterprises in Moldova that were considered medium-sized may become small enterprises and small enterprises may become micro-companies.
In December 2024, the public association “Partnership for a New Economy” presented the results of a comprehensive study to harmonize the definition of SMEs in Moldova with the provisions of European regulations in this field.
The analysis showed that if the sales revenue ceiling is raised to 200 million lei, no company will lose its SME status in 2025. At the same time, about 200 companies previously classified as large enterprises will become SMEs. Another 68 companies will remain outside the SME definition solely because of their large number of employees.
The EU Recommendation also provides for a criterion regarding ownership structure, which is intended to ensure that the objective of the SME definition, which is to identify companies that are genuinely struggling, is not distorted by the relationships that may arise between several companies. Thus, when determining SME status, companies should include data on other enterprises with which they have close financial, operational or managerial relationships.
How might the government’s planned changes affect the economy? Advantages include the fact that a clear definition of SME status in line with EU regulations may facilitate participation in international financing programs and increase competitiveness in the EU market. But there are also risks. Some SMEs may lose certain tax exemptions if they are moved to a higher category, their reporting may change, and the conditions for loans and grants in the domestic market may be revised.
Currently, there are more than 63 thousand enterprises registered in Moldova. Of these, according to the NBS, SMEs accounted for about 99.2% of the total number of reporting companies in 2023.
