Business leaders generally have their own understanding of what is happening. They know how the decisions being made will affect production, investment and competitiveness. Yet their voices are rarely heard in the public debate about the country’s future. Much of the explanation lies in Moldova’s established business culture.
The Habit of Keeping a Low Profile
Moldovan business does not particularly like the spotlight. Difficult issues are usually handled through personal contacts, lawyers and business associations. If an agreement can be reached without attracting unnecessary attention, all the better. Moldova is a small market, where many entrepreneurs know each other and the distance to those making decisions can sometimes be measured in just one or two phone calls.
The habit persists, but the conditions that shaped it are changing ever more rapidly.
Moldova’s European transition adds a major adjustment of legislation and business practices to the market uncertainty we have already grown used to. Decisions being made today are changing production costs, investment plans and competitive conditions for years to come.
Businesses judge reforms through the economics of their own companies. But they are often reluctant to accept that the government faces a much wider range of constraints and obligations. So even when both sides agree on the overall direction of European integration, specific decisions become a source of disagreement.
The arrival of a new prime minister with a background in the investment sector raised expectations among Moldovan entrepreneurs. There was hope for a more meaningful business role in shaping economic policy. However, the authorities’ openness to consultation does not necessarily mean they are willing or able to reconsider their decisions.
Companies prepare their calculations and try to offer alternatives. When these efforts lead nowhere, public appeals and statements from business associations and individual companies follow. Public communication becomes another way of defending business interests.
Although today, a company may find itself in the spotlight long before it decides to speak publicly.
When Others Set the Agenda
Today in Moldova, a significant part of the public agenda can be shaped by influential individuals – journalists, civic activists, recognised experts or simply people running popular online channels. I am not talking about the advertising influencers selected by marketing teams, but independent voices with real public influence.
Their posts can turn a local issue into a national story within hours, generate public pressure and force even government institutions to respond.
Yes, these people often bring genuine problems to light. But alongside justified criticism come speculation, personal accusations and outright hostility. And while a company is still trying to understand what has happened, a public version of events is already taking shape without its involvement.
I have often been struck by how genuinely puzzled entrepreneurs can be by such reactions. Within their familiar circle, the company is respected, and everyone supported the decision. So where has all this criticism suddenly come from?
Outside that circle, however, the same company may be seen very differently. Sometimes unfairly. But often people notice things the business itself simply failed to see or did not consider important.
Yet business has a potentially powerful voice of its own. Entrepreneurs just rarely use it in the public arena.
In Moldova, public statements by business leaders are often met with suspicion. People are used to seeing commercial interests behind them. And many are unwilling to recognise that those running companies possess knowledge that is often missing from discussions about economic policy. They understand the real cost of change, the consequences of new requirements and the commitments behind actual investments.
When backed by facts and clear arguments, the business perspective can influence public debate. Especially when an entrepreneur can show how the interests of one company relate to wider consequences for an industry and the economy as a whole. Business has something to say about the country’s future. More than that, it is business that will have to build the economic foundations of that future. That is why we cannot leave the task of explaining this future solely to officials, politicians and social media commentators.
A Voice of Its Own and a Place to Be Heard
There is another participant in this story: professional news media, which are facing serious difficulties of their own.
For years, Moldovan newsrooms have been operating at the limits of their financial resources. The advertising market is small, a significant share of advertising budgets goes to digital platforms, and no one wants to become entirely dependent on politicians.
We all know that a scandal attracts attention much faster. Which is why the wider public often first hears about a company when something has already gone wrong.
The relationship between business and the media in Moldova has always had its peculiarities. Companies generally buy advertising and paid articles, sometimes support media projects, but are much less willing to engage with newsrooms by sharing information and expertise.
At the same time, our business community has always complained about the lack of professional media capable of discussing economic issues in depth. But serious business and economic journalism requires skills and resources that many newsrooms simply do not have. This is why advertising support can also be a contribution to keeping independent media platforms alive – places where arguments can be considered on their merits. As these outlets become fewer or weaker, public debate grows increasingly dependent on the unpredictable dynamics of social media.
Let me make one thing clear: an advertising contract does not buy the loyalty of the press. But a professional relationship built over time allows journalists to understand a company, its operations and its industry. And when a difficult situation arises, that familiarity makes it easier to establish the facts and hear the business perspective.
There is another dimension to this, one I have written about before. Information about a company now has a second life – in the answers generated by artificial intelligence.
Potential partners or market experts may form their first impression of a company long before meeting anyone from it. Today, AI systems can draw on publicly available sources, including articles in respected media outlets, even when those articles were published as paid content. And the company may have little idea which information will shape how others judge its business or its position on a particular issue.
Still, public visibility is only part of the job.
Over my years working in corporate communications, I have seen time and again that the most important work happens beyond the pages of the press. A public statement can attract attention and open new opportunities for negotiation. It can also make negotiations more difficult if a company does not understand what it is trying to achieve – and what it can realistically achieve.
The ability to negotiate directly remains one of the strengths of Moldovan business. But today, companies must take account of many more players who can influence how a situation develops. And having a public position of their own is becoming just as much a business asset as professional relationships and reputation.
And, as always, a time-tested rule applies: if business does not make its own voice heard, others will explain what its interests are and what the decisions being made will mean for it.
Alexandr Bejenari,
Founder of PARC Communications, Strategic Communications Expert
Follow our updates
Have information for the newsroom? Share it with Logos-Press
Comments
0No comments yet. You can start the conversation.
Comments are open to readers with a Logos Press account.
Sign in to comment