Moldova becomes bankrupt

People are leaving the Republic of Moldova (RM), where 70% of the rural population is employed in the agricultural sector. There are 10 times fewer agricultural workers in the country than there were in 1985. The level of agriculture has dropped below the indicators of 2014, which means not only the lack of production, but also the disappearance of the Moldovan countryside, said former Prime Minister Vlad Filat. Moldova, which produced and exported not only fruits and vegetables, but also meat and dairy products, now imports them from abroad. Tomatoes – from Turkey, potatoes – from Belarus, strawberries – from Greece. We have our own vegetables and fruits, but they are few and expensive.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, when the Popular Front (NF) rallies were noisy in Moldova, gathering up to 200,000 supporters in the center of Chisinau, the NF leaders convinced the people that Russia was taking everything from Moldovans. 

Whereas Moldova could live only by exporting its tomatoes. It turned out that everything was wrong. And now there are few wonderful products that could be bought cheaply on every corner of the Moldovan capital, and they are expensive. It is cheaper to buy Belarusian potatoes, Turkish tomatoes, Greek strawberries and Polish apples. Although apples are still saving the agricultural sector from complete bankruptcy, remaining the main type of Moldovan export assortment.

Until recently, they mainly traveled through six or seven countries, Sergei Ibrishim, head of the Gagauz Autonomous Region’s Agricultural Production Complex, told NG, and were sold there, exceeding exports to the European Union, where Polish and Serbian apples filled the market. But recently, the Russian Federation banned Moldovan trucks from entering the country after the Moldovan authorities deported Russian diplomats from Moldova. The exception is suppliers from Transnistria and the Gagauz Autonomous Region. The Russian market is not available to farmers from other regions of Moldova.

According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the economy of the Republic of Moldova will register growth of only 0.6% in 2025, which is the lowest indicator among the emerging economies in the region. According to the new IMF forecasts, after last year’s growth of 0.5% (data from the National Bureau of Statistics of the Republic of Moldova show an even smaller growth of only 0.1%), Moldova’s GDP will grow by 0.6% this year, accelerate to 2.5% in 2026 and reach the government’s promised level of 5% only in 2030. The forecasts were published during the spring session of the IMF and the World Bank, which took place last week in Washington.

Meanwhile, economist Vyacheslav Ionita warns that Moldovan agriculture is in alarming decline after agricultural production declined by 15% in 2024, and over the past decade the sector has experienced five years of growth and five years of recession, now falling below the level of 2014. The most affected crops were rapeseed (-60%), corn (-47%) and sugar beet (-32%).

Although precipitation has decreased by 20% over the past 10 years, Moldova is still the European country that uses the least amount of water for irrigation. Without an effective national irrigation system, farmers have no chance of recovery, and agricultural production will continue to decline, Ionita believes. The economist emphasizes that any rural regeneration strategy should start with irrigation.

“If Moldova does not urgently invest in an efficient irrigation system, agriculture will continue to decline, and only memories will remain of villages,” the expert concluded.

Meanwhile, the Government of the Republic does not plan to finance agriculture. And the 60 million euros transferred to the EU country will be used for the needs of the army.

Over the past five years, agriculture in the Republic of Moldova has experienced three years of falling production and only two years of modest recovery, former Prime Minister Vlad Filat writes on his Telegram channel. The situation reached a climax in 2024 with a decrease of 14.6%, and compared to 2019, total agricultural production decreased by 13.3%. In his opinion, this is no longer a temporary crisis, but a systemic stagnation of the agricultural sector, with massive crop losses and increasingly gloomy prospects.

More than 70% of the rural population working in the real sector is employed in agriculture. It is this sector that is collapsing: in 2024, the number of people employed fell sharply, reaching only 154,600 people, and this is the lowest level in the last 80 years.

Over the past year alone, Moldova has lost more than 31,000 agricultural workers, which means not only the absence of production, but also the disappearance of the Moldovan countryside as a living form of social organization, Filat said.

“Meanwhile, the “Budget Plus”, the ostentatiously announced program of the government, contains almost 8 billion lei. Only 200 million has been allocated for agriculture – 2.5%. This is a clear signal that the government does not take agriculture and rural areas seriously,” said the former Prime Minister of the Republic of Moldova.

Fruits, the farmers’ only hope, are under threat. Four consecutive strikes have been inflicted on their exports. There is no vision for the government’s actions in relation to agriculture and farmers. Frosts in 2025 may destroy the entire crop. The customs duties imposed by the United States are hitting international competitiveness. Preferential quotas for exports to the EU expire in June, and the government has not negotiated for their extension, Filat said.

The lack of reaction to the expiration of EU quotas is a strategic mistake that will lead to a sharp reduction in fruit exports, chain bankruptcies, and accelerated depopulation of villages, the politician notes.

In his opinion, the government is obliged to act immediately, starting negotiations with the EU on the extension of quotas, providing support to those affected by the freeze, reviewing the “Budget Plus”. Otherwise, in a few years, Moldova will import apples that it once exported, and only memories will remain of the villages. If the EU cancels trade privileges for Moldova, “it will be a stronger blow to our economy than Trump’s duties,” expert Vyacheslav Ionita believes.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, economic agents of the Republic of Moldova shipped goods abroad in January-February by 14.8% less than a year earlier. Shipments to EU countries decreased by 20.4%. Imports to Moldova, on the contrary, increased by 16%. Almost half of the imports are from EU countries. The significant gap between exports and imports led to the accumulation of a negative trade balance of 1.083 billion dollars by the beginning of March.