Cyprus and Russia Are the Largest Investors in Moldova’s Economy

According to data published by the National Bank of Moldova in the Coordinated Direct Investment Survey by country, the largest foreign direct investments in the Moldovan economy come from Cyprus, Russia, Romania, the Netherlands and Germany. According to the data published by the NBM, at the end of 2022, direct investments in the national economy totaled more than 4.33 billion dollars, a symbolic increase of only 13 million dollars compared to the result at the end of 2021. Cyprus is the leader, Russia is second. Of the total foreign direct investment (FDI), around $3.07 billion is equity and $1.26 billion is debt instruments. Even if they are down by more than $60 million compared to 2021, most of the investment comes from Cyprus, with a contribution of more than $783 million. Russia remains in second place with a contribution of about 715 million dollars, consisting mainly of debt instruments, while the contribution of equity investments is negative, according to the NBM. Thus, Russia is the leader in terms of investments in the Moldovan economy (especially in Moldovagaz) in the form of debt instruments, but lags behind in terms of equity investments. We should note that over the last four years, the volume of Russian investments has decreased by about 18% (more than 150 million dollars). Investments from Romania have tripled in 7 years. Romania moved up to third place in the ranking of countries where investments come from, with a contribution of almost 426 million dollars, thus overtaking the Netherlands, which dropped to fourth place with a stock of 412.7 million dollars. NBM data show that between 2016 and 2022, the volume of Romanian investments in Moldova’s economy almost tripled. The top 10 countries in terms of direct investments in Moldova’s economy also include Germany ($246.51 million), the United Kingdom ($238.81 million), Bulgaria ($216.33 million), Austria ($175.81 million), France ($155.12 million) and Italy ($138.54 million).