News about International trade

Potato acreage in Moldova has decreased by 10-20% this year, according to potato seed suppliers. The reasons are many – from radical cost reduction due to the rise in the price of all inputs, to the relatively low selling price of this product throughout the 2025/26 marketing season.

The UK has announced the introduction of a new package of sanctions against Russia, calling it “one of the toughest” in the entire period of London’s sanctions policy. Eighty-five individuals and legal entities that the British authorities link to information campaigns and support for Russian actions abroad have fallen under the restrictions.

Romania may face not a technical recession, but a full-fledged economic crisis in case of a new decline in GDP. This was stated by the leader of the Social Democratic Party of Romania, Sorin Grindeanu, against the background of the deterioration of the country’s macroeconomic indicators.

This October, the Republic of Moldova will celebrate the 25th anniversary of National Wine Day, using this momentous occasion to highlight its wine heritage, tourism offer and growing international presence under the slogan ‘United by Wine’.

In the period of May 4-10, 2026, the Customs Service’s revenues to the state budget amounted to 1.0 billion lei, which constitutes the fulfillment of the benchmark of 107.1% for the reporting period.

The European Union is preparing a 21st package of sanctions against Moscow, within which it intends to increase pressure on the “shadow fleet,” Russian banks and the Russian Orthodox Church, Politico writes, citing European officials and diplomats.

Russia expects clarifications from Armenia in connection with the visit of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to that country, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said.

Since the announcement of the crisis on the Romanian oil and oil products market until now, the Romanian state has approved 30 applications for diesel exports, most of which are aimed at supplies to neighboring countries.

In recent days, there have been reports causing increased interest of fruit business operators in Europe. In the information space of Polish agribusiness there appeared not single opinions that due to spring frosts the apple harvest in this “apple power” can be halved. Fruit traders in Poland rarely hit the bull’s-eye in their initial forecasts. However, now the market situation is so alarming that any “signal shots” have consequences.

International online platforms, including eMag, Temu, Amazon, are actively used in Moldova as a shopping channel from abroad, but they do not work as an export tool for local producers. This was stated by businessman Mircea Baciu, commenting on the development of cross-border e-commerce in the country.

Alibaba Group is preparing one of the biggest experiments in global e-commerce. The Chinese giant is integrating its Qwen AI model into the Taobao platform and actually replacing product search with a conversation with artificial intelligence.

Romanian President Nicusor Dan made a video message on the occasion of Europe Day and Romania’s Independence Day, in which he spoke about what his country has achieved during almost 20 years in the EU (Romania officially joined the Community on January 1, 2007).

The U.S. has once again lashed out at Europe, which it assesses is indulging in an influx of extremists due to uncontrolled migration.

CAIR – A group of developing countries launched the Borrowers’ Platform on April 15 to create a stronger collective voice in debt management discussions and international financial negotiations.

The products of the Chisinau-based factory Viorica Cosmetic entered the Turkish retail market and started to be sold in the BIM chain of stores. This was reported by the Moldovan Embassy in Turkey.

The European Union remains Moldova’s key financial partner, providing more than 72% of direct foreign investments, about 59% of external grants and more than 19% of the country’s external loans. This was stated by IDIS Viitorul expert Veaceslav Ionita.

Yesterday, May 8, Europe celebrated Victory Day, marking the surrender of Nazi Germany and the end of World War II. The act of unconditional surrender of Germany came into force on May 8, 1945 at 23:01 Central European time, when the clock in Moscow was already on May 9. The attitude to this day varies in the countries of Europe.

The beauty industry has found a new audience where no one has looked before – in the Formula 1 paddock. While motorsport has been associated for decades with oil giants, watch brands and energy companies, Sephora, Charlotte Tilbury and LVMH have all hit the tracks in 2026. The reason is simple: women have become one of the fastest growing segments of the championship’s audience.

A Chinese company that produces festive fireworks for the U.S. market has reported an increase in interest in its products amid preparations for U.S. Independence Day celebrations and Donald Trump’s expected visit to China.

On the eve of the new marketing season, the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry (MAIA) recalls the success of Moldovan fruits on the EU market.