Moldova Railway: Strike, Debt, and Decay

Railway workers at the Oknitsky railway junction in Moldova have initiated a strike on Sunday, demanding payment of salaries that have been delayed for over six months. Dmitry Fisyuk, chairman of the trade union committee of the Oknitsky railway junction, states that the situation is unbearable. The protest has halted train movement between Chisinau and Kyiv, with Bucharest remaining the only accessible city by rail, for now.

Fisyuk announces in a video message posted on social networks that, in accordance with the law, they are notifying management about the termination of operations from March 10, 2025. He urges others who have not yet joined to support them so that they can finally receive their salaries. He also expresses solidarity with colleagues in other cities, such as Ungheni, Balti, and Basarabaska, facing similar salary arrears.

Moldovan Railway has been grappling with financial difficulties for several years. Salary arrears amounted to 191 million lei (950 million rubles) at the beginning of this year.

The Moldovan railway system has experienced a crisis in recent years due to a decline in freight traffic. Strikes occurred in 2021 at the company’s southern branches, temporarily blocking tracks. In 2022, with European Union support, Moldovan authorities began urgent modernization of the railway infrastructure to boost cargo transportation with Ukraine.

Employees went on strike again in February 2024, protesting the months-long salary delays. In August, the trade union appealed to Prime Minister Dorin Rechan, requesting the resolution of wage arrears, which had reached $7.75 million.

The ongoing payment issues have fueled further protests.

Economist Viachesla Ionita believes that the unprecedented crisis on Moldova’s railways has evolved from an economic issue into a political one. He states that the state-owned enterprise is facing its most challenging situation in the last 75 years. He notes passenger traffic has decreased by 13% compared to 2023, and freight traffic has plummeted by 39%. He warns that without urgent government intervention, the railway risks disappearing forever, and if action isn’t taken now, the country will completely lose the railway as a strategic infrastructure facility.

In 2013, Moldova announced a railway reform. The ambitious project, which authorities promised to implement with Romanian colleagues, proved to be a failure. «Moldavian Vedomosti» reports that five Soviet-era trains were repaired in Romania at a cost of 11 million euros. Anatol Salaru served as Minister of Transport at the time, and Vitaliy Struna was the railway director, who is currently under investigation for money laundering.

Two of the repaired trains caught fire shortly after the repairs. In December 2022, the locomotive of the Chisinau–Iasi train caught fire, and a year after reconstruction, in 2014, one of the trains en route to the Romanian border town of Ungheni caught fire. Salaru subsequently left for Romania and has not returned to Moldova, understanding that the Moldovan prosecutor’s office might have unpleasant questions for him. The publication concludes by stating that one of the most prominent representatives of the last generation of European integrators is afraid to come to the Republic of Moldova.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Infrastructure of the Republic of Moldova, Vladimir Bolya, stated on television that the railway fleet, modernized under Shalaru, is on the verge of collapse. Of the five units, only two remain operational, with one powered only by a shunting locomotive.

He explains that one locomotive operates on the Chisinau–Ungheni route, and the second, intended for the route to Iasi, has a faulty train head and is towed by a shunting locomotive. He adds that there have been several experimental trains rebuilt in Romania, but they are unlikely to be repaired.

Former Minister of Education of the Republic of Moldova, Corneliu Popovich, stated that this exemplifies the efficiency of the reformers: first, they destroy something functional, and then they invest money and resources to rebuild the same thing from scratch. He believes that the only outcome of the reforms is a waste of public resources.

Everyone in the country, from railway employees to politicians and journalists, is discussing the state of Moldova’s railway. The leader of the Party of Socialists, Igor Dodon, states that Moldova’s railway is in danger of bankruptcy. Former company head Oleg Tofilat predicts that the bankruptcy of the railway is the fault of the authorities, who are unable to stabilize the situation. Former Moldovan Parliament member Nicolae Pascaru explained to Chisinau media the obstacles hindering the railway industry’s recovery and the overall development of the Moldovan economy.

He notes that the problems of the Moldovan railway have persisted for many years, starting in 2009. He states that after the April 7 revolution and the rise to power of the Alliance for European Integration, its systematic destruction began. With the new government, the management of the Moldovan railway came under the control of the alliance’s appointees, who were monitored by the European Commission.

Pascaru emphasizes that during this entire period, the railway never became profitable. Instead, all efforts were directed towards dismantling its potential. Significant orders were transferred to third-party transport companies or Ukrainian railways, severely undermining the industry’s economic stability. He also notes that since 2009, around 20 criminal cases have been opened against railway management, involving money laundering, purchasing software at inflated prices (worth millions of euros), and other fraudulent activities.

Pascaru concludes that the situation with the wagons warrants particular attention. The Moldovan Railway wrote them off under the guise of recycling, even though they were in good condition. They were later resold to Ukraine using falsified documents. Subsequently, the same wagons, now formally leased from Ukrainian companies, were used in the Moldovan railway network. Such schemes, repeated year after year, have led to infrastructure destruction and an almost complete loss of trust in railway management. Addressing these issues requires transparency, a systematic approach, and a review of past management decisions.

He adds that the situation is exacerbated by the sale of land surrounding the railway and the decommissioning of serviceable trains. Trains purchased from the USA for millions of dollars proved ineffective in Moldovan conditions. All of this transforms the railway into a «black hole» in the Moldovan economy, where corruption flourishes and development prospects are destroyed. Regrettably, the current Moldovan authorities are unable to address this situation.