Moldovan railway to go under the hammer

On March 14, Moldovan railway workers will stage a mass protest at the government building in Chisinau in connection with unpaid salaries. If urgent decisions are not made, they promise to stop the Moldovan Railway on March 17. The office of the NG railway said that the road is unprofitable, there are no more than 2 million people left in the republic, half of whom have cars, the rest use buses and airplanes. And the owners of trucks are waiting for the railway to stop, as they will become the only cargo carriers in the country. And the ZHM is likely to go under the hammer.

The situation on the Moldovan railway is becoming increasingly tense. Employees of the railway hub from the city of Balti in the north of the republic partially suspended their activities, protesting against salary arrears that had been accumulating for almost seven months. Many of them have already submitted their resignations, and if the problem is not resolved by March 17, all railway activities in the north of the country may be blocked. Railway workers in the north of the country are joined by employees of other sections of the railway.

Employees of the Oknitskiy railway junction on Sunday began a strike before receiving their salaries, said Dmitry Fisyuk, leader of the trade union committee of the Oknitskiy railway junction. “In accordance with the law, we have sent notices to the management about the termination of operations from March 10, 2025,” he said. The Oknitsky railway workers support the workers of the railway junctions of the cities of Ungheni and Bessarabka, who face the same problems.

Ion Zaporozhan, Chairman of the Federation of Railway Workers’ Trade Unions, said that the situation was critical.: “People are desperate. They have nothing to eat, they have nothing to send their children to school for. I asked the authorities to imagine what it would be like not to receive a salary for two months. The employees of ZHDM have not received it for more than six months. How do you think they’re coping?”

The situation on the railway was discussed the day before at a meeting with Prime Minister Dorin Rechan, however, according to Ion Zaporozhan, the issue of salaries was not raised.: “Until today, I still had a drop of optimism, but now I realize that everything is tragic.”

The Chairman of the Federation of Railway Workers’ Trade Unions warned that the consequences could be serious: if railway workers do not go to work on March 17, railway traffic may be paralyzed. However, he added: “I do not know who else to contact.”

Salary debts for almost 5,000 railway employees exceed 191 million lei (955 million rubles). The railway is facing increasing difficulties due to a shortage of diesel fuel and logistical problems, and the lack of financing endangers the entire railway system. “We don’t have diesel fuel, we don’t have gas, we don’t have resources, but we have huge debts,” the Citizen of Zaporizhia summed up.

Meanwhile, an employee of the railway staff, who asked not to be named, told NG that the Moldovan railway is unprofitable, and therefore the government does not deal with it. “Our country is small, less than 2 million people live in it, the rest have gone to work in the European Union and Russia, where many will remain. Half of the country’s residents have cars, while the rest use buses and airplanes. The automotive and aviation industries will remain, but the railway will stop, and it is unlikely that anyone will buy it. Freight transportation will be taken over by the owners of trucks, they are waiting for the railway to stop working. What is happening here is what has already happened in the Baltic countries,” the Moldovan railwayman notes. And 5,000 workers and employees of the railway, in his opinion, will receive salaries, but only with the help of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). The Moldovan government will have to pay the railway workers their salary debts. And “he will reduce the number of personnel to 500 people who will guard the road and the property of the railway station before it is put up for sale,” the NG interlocutor believes.

Recall that over the past few years, Moldovan railways have been in crisis amid a decline in freight traffic. At the moment, the problem with payments remains unresolved, which provoked the continuation of the protests. The protest announced on March 14 may be the last for the industry.