News about Economy of Moldova

The Republic of Moldova is hosting the 65th General Assembly of the Permanent Regional Working Group on Rural Development (SWG) of South Eastern Europe during April 21-22. The meeting will bring together officials from member countries and experts in the field from France, Hungary and Germany, which opens up opportunities for enhanced cooperation, including with non-member states.

Moldova is preparing to strengthen control over the observance of the principle of equal pay. Within the framework of legislative changes aimed at transposing European Union directives, employers will be held liable for violations of the norms on equal pay for equal work or work of equal value.

The National Energy Regulatory Agency (NERA) has set new maximum fuel prices that will be in effect tomorrow, April 22.

Along with the two state-owned publishing houses “Știința” and “Lumina”, which will be offered for sale, the state’s share (11.2%) in the printing house “Metrompas” will also be auctioned.

The authorities are taking strict control over the extraction of minerals and intend to introduce European standards of subsoil monitoring. The draft mandatory reporting developed by the Ministry of Environment will affect all subsoil users and for the first time will force them to take into account even hidden valuable components in dumps.

The European Commission forecasts for 2026 an increase in sunflower plantings in the countries of the Union by 5%, the harvest – by 1.2 million tons (up to 9.6 million tons). As a result, production of this raw material in the EU may turn out to be the highest in the last three years.

Another state-owned enterprise will be offered for privatization by the Public Property Agency. It is the state-owned enterprise Izomer, specializing in the production of chemical products.
By the decision of the relevant selection commission, it was included in the list of assets to be privatized through open tenders.

If a store customer wants to make sure that the minimum shelf life of purchased chicken eggs has not yet expired, he or she will be able to do so. This week, a government decree was officially published and came into force, obliging egg producers to provide detailed information on the packaging.

The European Union will be granted extended powers to monitor the use of funds and the implementation of reforms in Moldova within the framework of the Reform and Growth Mechanism. The relevant draft has been elaborated by the State Chancellery.

The spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group in Washington, DC (April 13-19, 2026) concluded with a focus on supporting the hardest hit countries in the face of global uncertainty and necessary structural reforms.

In March 2026, only 742 thousand tons of sunflower oil were exported from Moldova. This is literally a collapse of external supplies compared to their dynamics in February – 3.2 thousand tons.

After an unsuccessful attempt to realize these assets through a tender in 2021, the Public Property Agency intends to offer them through an auction. Similar to the Hotel Zarya, the two state-owned publishing houses Știința and Lumina, as well as the state’s share in the printing house Metrompas, will be sold.

In March, according to the National Bank of Moldova (NBM) data, the trend of excess of cash withdrawals over cash inflows continued in the banking sector of Moldova. These indicators emphasize the continuing high demand of the population for cash.

The largest contribution to GDP growth in 2025 was made by information technology and communications. A 12.5% increase in gross value added contributed 0.9 percentage points to GDP growth.

In 2025, the number of electric and hybrid vehicles will reach approximately 87,000, an increase of more than 30% compared to 2024.

Under the Farm Credit Program (FCA), the Agricultural Working Capital (AWC) line of credit is allocated, which provides soft loans to farmers to cover current production costs.

In the first quarter of 2026, the Organization for the Development of Entrepreneurship (ODA), in cooperation with the Ministry of Economic Development and Digitalization (MDED), continued the implementation of grant programs to support entrepreneurs. During this period, the total amount allocated by the Entrepreneurship Development Organization to 135 grantee companies amounted to 23.74 million lei.

In 2025, the Moldovan wine sector showed growth in the main indicators. The harvest of technical grape varieties amounted to 259 thousand tons, which was higher than the initial forecast of 220 thousand tons. This was reported by the State Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture Andrian Digolian.

An active group of smugglers involved in the transportation of goods between Moldova and Romania was dismantled thanks to information provided by the Romanian border police, leading to the arrest of four suspects and the confiscation of thousands of packs of cigarettes.

The requirements for public-private partnership projects will be changed. Their launch will be possible only after the approval of a preliminary comprehensive study – the so-called project justification (studiu de fundamentare), in addition to the traditional feasibility study (studiu de fezabilitate).