Published on March 9, 2010

Country Report

Moldova

Introduction

Background: Part of Romania during the interwar period, Moldova was incorporated into the Soviet Union at the close of World War II. Although independent from the USSR since 1991, Russian forces have remained on Moldovan territory east of the Dniester River supporting the Slavic majority population, mostly Ukrainians and Russians, who have proclaimed a "Transnistria" republic. One of the poorest nations in Europe, Moldova became the first former Soviet state to elect a Communist, Vladimir VORONIN, as its president in 2001. VORONIN served as Moldova's president until he resigned in September 2009, following the opposition's victory of a narrow parliamentary majority in July parliamentary elections and the Communist Party's (PCRM) subsequent inability to attract the three-fifths of parliamentary votes required to elect a president. Moldova's four opposition parties formed a new coalition, the Alliance for European Integration (AEI), which will act as Moldova's governing coalition until new parliamentary elections can be held in summer 2010. Moldova experienced significant political uncertainty in 2009, holding two general elections (in April and July) and four presidential ballots in parliament, all of which failed to secure a president.

Geography

Location: Eastern Europe, northeast of Romania

Geographic coordinates: 47 00 N, 29 00 E

Area:
total: 33,851 sq km
land: 32,891 sq km
water: 960 sq km

Area - comparative: slightly larger than Maryland

Land boundaries:
total: 1,390 km
border countries: Romania 450 km, Ukraine 940 km

Coastline: 0 km (landlocked)

Maritime claims: none (landlocked)

Climate: moderate winters, warm summers

Terrain: rolling steppe, gradual slope south to Black Sea

Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Dniester River 2 m
highest point: Dealul Balanesti 430 m

Natural resources: lignite, phosphorites, gypsum, arable land, limestone

Land use:
arable land: 54.52%
permanent crops: 8.81%
other: 36.67% (2005)

Irrigated land: 3,000 sq km (2003)

Total renewable water resources: 11.7 cu km (1997)

Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural):
total: 2.31 cu km/yr (10%/58%/33%)
per capita: 549 cu m/yr (2000)

Natural hazards: landslides

Environment - current issues: heavy use of agricultural chemicals, including banned pesticides such as DDT, has contaminated soil and groundwater; extensive soil erosion from poor farming methods

Environment - international agreements:
party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Geography - note: landlocked; well endowed with various sedimentary rocks and minerals including sand, gravel, gypsum, and limestone

People

Population: 4,320,748 (July 2009 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 15.9% (male 353,495/female 334,592)
15-64 years: 73.3% (male 1,536,263/female 1,629,882)
65 years and over: 10.8% (male 172,070/female 294,446) (2009 est.)

Median age:
total: 34.6 years
male: 32.7 years
female: 36.7 years (2009 est.)

Population growth rate: -0.079% (2009 est.)

Birth rate: 11.12 births/1,000 population (2009 est.)

Death rate: 10.78 deaths/1,000 population (July 2009 est.)

Net migration rate: -1.13 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2009 est.)

Urbanization:
urban population: 42% of total population (2008)
rate of urbanization: -1.5% annual rate of change (2005-10 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.94 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.58 male(s)/female
total population: 0.91 male(s)/female (2009 est.)

Infant mortality rate:
total: 13.13 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 14.57 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 11.6 deaths/1,000 live births (2009 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 70.8 years
male: 67.1 years
female: 74.71 years (2009 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.27 children born/woman (2009 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 0.4% (2007 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 8,900 (2007 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths: fewer than 100 (2007 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Moldovan(s)
adjective: Moldovan

Ethnic groups:
Moldovan/Romanian 78.2%, Ukrainian 8.4%, Russian 5.8%, Gagauz 4.4%, Bulgarian 1.9%, other 1.3% (2004 census)
note: internal disputes with ethnic Slavs in the Transnistrian region

Religions: Eastern Orthodox 98%, Jewish 1.5%, Baptist and other 0.5% (2000)

Languages: Moldovan (official, virtually the same as the Romanian language), Russian, Gagauz (a Turkish dialect)

Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 99.1%
male: 99.7%
female: 98.6% (2005 est.)

School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education):
total: 12 years
male: 12 years
female: 13 years (2006)

Education expenditures: 7.6% of GDP (2006)

Government

Country name:
conventional long form: Republic of Moldova
conventional short form: Moldova
local long form: Republica Moldova
local short form: Moldova
former: Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic, Moldovan Soviet Socialist Republic

Government type: republic

Capital:
name: Chisinau (Kishinev)
note: pronounced kee-shee-now
geographic coordinates: 47 00 N, 28 51 E
time difference: UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October

Administrative divisions:
32 raions (raioane, singular - raionul), 3 municipalities (municipiul), 1 autonomous territorial unit (unitatea teritoriala autonoma), and 1 territorial unit (unitatea teritoriala)
raions: Anenii Noi, Basarabeasca, Briceni, Cahul, Cantemir, Calarasi, Causeni, Cimislia, Criuleni, Donduseni, Drochia, Dubasari, Edinet, Falesti, Floresti, Glodeni, Hincesti, Ialoveni, Leova, Nisporeni, Ocnita, Orhei, Rezina, Riscani, Singerei, Soldanesti, Soroca, Stefan-Voda, Straseni, Taraclia, Telenesti, Ungheni
municipalities: Balti, Bender, Chisinau
autonomous territorial unit: Gagauzia
territorial unit: Stinga Nistrului (Transnistria)

Independence: 27 August 1991 (from the Soviet Union)

National holiday: Independence Day, 27 August (1991)

Constitution: adopted 29 July 1994; effective 27 August 1994; note - replaced 1979 Soviet constitution

Legal system: based on civil law system; Constitutional Court reviews legality of legislative acts and governmental decisions of resolution; accepts many UN and Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) documents; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch:
chief of state: Acting President Mihai GHIMPU (since 11 September 2009)
note: Vladimir VORONIN, president since 4 April 2001, resigned on 11 September 2009; Mihai GHIMPU, the Parliamentary Speaker, is serving as acting president until new elections can be held in 2010; the parliament twice failed to elect a president in 2009 and must now wait until late 2010 to dissolve itself and hold new presidential elections, given that the constitution forbids parliament from being dissolved more than twice in a 12 month period
head of government: Prime Minister Vladimir FILAT (since 25 September 2009); Deputy Prime Minister Iurie LEANCA (since 25 September 2009)
cabinet: Cabinet selected by president, subject to approval of Parliament
elections: president elected by Parliament for a four-year term (eligible for a second term); last successful election held 4 April 2005, most recent (failed) election held 10 December 2009); note - prime minister designated by the president upon consultation with Parliament; within 15 days from designation, the prime minister-designate must request a vote of confidence from the Parliament regarding his/her work program and entire cabinet; prime minister designated 17 September 2009; cabinet received a vote of confidence 25 September 2009
election results: Vladimir VORONIN reelected president; parliamentary votes - Vladimir VORONIN 75, Gheorghe DUCA 1; Vladimir FILAT designated prime minister; parliamentary votes of confidence - 53 of 101

Legislative branch:
unicameral Parliament or Parlamentul (101 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 29 July 2009 (next to be held in 2010); note - this was the second parliamentary election in less than four months; the earlier parliament (elected 5 April 2009) could not agree on a presidential candidate; the current parliament also failed to elect a president, but because of a constitutional provision that says the parliament cannot be dissolved more than once in a 12-month period, new elections will not be held until summer 2010
election results: percent of vote by party - PCRM 44.7%, PLDM 16.6%, PL 14.7%, PD 12.5%, AMN 7.4%; seats by party - PCRM 48, PLDM 18, PL 15, PD 13, AMN 7

Judicial branch: Supreme Court; Constitutional Court (the sole authority for constitutional judicature)

Political parties and leaders: Centrist Union or UCM [Vasile TARLEV]; Christian Democratic People's Party or PPCD [Iurie ROSCA]; Communist Party of the Republic of Moldova or PCRM [Vladimir VORONIN]; Democratic Party or PD [Mihai LUPU]; Liberal Democratic Party or PLDM [Vladmir FILAT]; Liberal Party or PL [Mihai GHIMPU]; National Liberal Party or PNL [Vitalia PAVLICENKO]; Our Moldova Alliance or AMN [Serafim URECHEAN]; Party for Social Democracy or PDSM [Dumitru BRAGHIS]

Political pressure groups and leaders: NA

International organization participation: BSEC, CE, CEI, CIS, EAEC (observer), EAPC, EBRD, FAO, GCTU, GUAM, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt (signatory), IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO (correspondent), ITU, MIGA, OIF, OPCW, OSCE, PFP, SECI, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, Union Latina, UNMIL, UNMIS, UNOCI, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Nicolae CHIRTOACA
chancery: 2101 S Street NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone: [1] (202) 667-1130
FAX: [1] (202) 667-1204

Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Asif CHAUDHRY
embassy: 103 Mateevici Street, Chisinau MD-2009
mailing address: use embassy street address
telephone: [373] (22) 40-8300
FAX: [373] (22) 23-3044

Flag description: three equal vertical bands of blue (hoist side), yellow, and red; emblem in center of flag is of a Roman eagle of gold outlined in black with a red beak and talons carrying a yellow cross in its beak and a green olive branch in its right talons and a yellow scepter in its left talons; on its breast is a shield divided horizontally red over blue with a stylized ox head, star, rose, and crescent all in black-outlined yellow; same color scheme as Romania

Economy

Economy - overview: Moldova remains one of the poorest countries in Europe despite recent progress from its small economic base. It enjoys a favorable climate and good farmland but has no major mineral deposits. As a result, the economy depends heavily on agriculture, featuring fruits, vegetables, wine, and tobacco. Moldova must import almost all of its energy supplies. Moldova's dependence on Russian energy was underscored at the end of 2005, when a Russian-owned electrical station in Moldova's separatist Transnistria region cut off power to Moldova and Russia's Gazprom cut off natural gas in disputes over pricing, and again in January 2009, during a similar dispute. Russia's decision to ban Moldovan wine and agricultural products, coupled with its decision to double the price Moldova paid for Russian natural gas, slowed GDP growth in 2006-07. However, in 2008 growth exceeded 7%, boosted by Russia's partial removal of the bans, solid fixed capital investment, and strong domestic demand driven by remittances from abroad. The country reversed course again in 2009, due to the onset of the global financial crisis and poor economic conditions in Moldova's main foreign markets, which dramatically decreased remittances. GDP fell about 9%. Unemployment almost doubled, and deflation has become a concern. Economic reforms have been slow because of corruption and strong political forces backing government controls. Nevertheless, the government's primary goal of EU integration has resulted in some market-oriented progress. The granting of EU trade preferences and increased exports to Russia will encourage higher growth rates, but the agreements are unlikely to serve as a panacea, given the extent to which export success depends on higher quality standards and other factors. The economy is likely to have a modest recovery in 2010, but remains vulnerable to political uncertainty, weak administrative capacity, vested bureaucratic interests, higher fuel prices, poor agricultural weather, and the skepticism of foreign investors as well as the presence of an illegal separatist regime in Moldova's Transnistria region.

GDP (purchasing power parity):
$10.21 billion (2009 est.)
note: data are in 2009 US dollars

GDP (official exchange rate): $5.328 billion (2009 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: -6.6% (2009 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP):
$2,400 (2009 est.)
note: data are in 2009 US dollars

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 21.8%
industry: 17.6%
services: 60.6% (2009 est.)

Labor force: 1.336 million (2009 est.)

Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture: 40.6%
industry: 16%
services: 43.3% (2005)

Unemployment rate: 2.6% (2009 est.)

Population below poverty line: 29.5% (2005)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 3%
highest 10%: 28.2% (2004)

Distribution of family income - Gini index: 33.2 (2003)

Investment (gross fixed): 24.5% of GDP (2009 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $1.751 billion
expenditures: $2.112 billion (2009 est.)

Public debt: 31.3% of GDP (2009 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 0% (2009 est.)

Commercial bank prime lending rate: 21.06% (31 December 2008)

Stock of money: $1.116 billion (31 December 2008)

Stock of quasi money: $1.928 billion (31 December 2008)

Stock of domestic credit: $2.406 billion (31 December 2008)

Market value of publicly traded shares: $NA (2004)

Agriculture - products: vegetables, fruits, wine, grain, sugar beets, sunflower seed, tobacco; beef, milk

Industries: sugar, vegetable oil, food processing, agricultural machinery; foundry equipment, refrigerators and freezers, washing machines; hosiery, shoes, textiles

Industrial production growth rate: -20% (2009 est.)

Electricity - production: 3.617 billion kWh (2007 est.)

Electricity - consumption: 4.37 billion kWh (2007 est.)

Electricity - exports: 240 million kWh (2007 est.)

Electricity - imports: 2.931 billion kWh (2007 est.)

Oil - production: 0 bbl/day (2008 est.)

Oil - consumption: 17,000 bbl/day (2008 est.)

Oil - exports: 36 bbl/day (2007 est.)

Oil - imports: 14,230 bbl/day (2007 est.)

Oil - proved reserves: 0 bbl (1 January 2009 est.)

Natural gas - production: 50 million cu m (2007 est.)

Natural gas - consumption: 2.52 billion cu m (2008 est.)

Natural gas - exports: 0 cu m (2008 est.)

Natural gas - imports: 2.52 billion cu m (2008 est.)

Natural gas - proved reserves: 0 cu m (1 January 2009 est.)

Current account balance: -$611 million (2009 est.)

Exports: $1.24 billion (2009 est.)

Exports - commodities: foodstuffs, textiles, machinery

Exports - partners: Morocco 48.1%, Russia 14.8%, Romania 8.1%, Italy 5% (2008)

Imports: $3.14 billion (2009 est.)

Imports - commodities: mineral products and fuel, machinery and equipment, chemicals, textiles

Imports - partners: Ukraine 20.2%, Russia 19.7%, Romania 14.3%, Germany 7.9%, Italy 5%, Belarus 4.2% (2008)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $1.2 billion (31 December 2009 est.)

Debt - external: $3.97 billion (31 December 2009 est.)

Stock of direct foreign investment - at home: $NA (31 December 2009 est.)

Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad: $NA

Exchange rates: Moldovan lei (MDL) per US dollar - 11.105 (2009), 10.326 (2008), 12.177 (2007), 13.131 (2006), 12.6 (2005)

Communications

Telephones - main lines in use: 1.115 million (2008)

Telephones - mobile cellular: 2.423 million (2008)

Telephone system:
general assessment: inadequate, outmoded, poor service outside Chisinau; some modernization is under way
domestic: depending on location, new subscribers may face long wait for service; multiple private operators of GSM mobile-cellular telephone service are operating; GPRS system is being introduced; a CDMA mobile telephone network began operations in 2007; combined fixed-line and mobile-cellular teledensity 85 per 100 persons
international: country code - 373; service through Romania and Russia via landline; satellite earth stations - at least 3 (Intelsat, Eutelsat, and Intersputnik) (2008)

Radio broadcast stations: AM 2, FM 29, shortwave NA (2006)

Television broadcast stations: 40 (2006)

Internet country code: .md

Internet hosts: 367,150 (2009)

Internet users: 850,000 (2008)

Transportation

Airports: 11 (2009)

Airports - with paved runways:
total: 5
over 3,047 m: 1
2,438 to 3,047 m: 2
1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 (2009)

Airports - with unpaved runways:
total: 6
1,524 to 2,437 m: 3
under 914 m: 3 (2009)

Pipelines: gas 1,906 km (2009)

Railways:
total: 1,138 km
broad gauge: 1,124 km 1.520-m gauge
standard gauge: 14 km 1.435-m gauge (2008)

Roadways:
total: 12,666 km
paved: 12,117 km
unpaved: 549 km (2007)

Waterways: 424 km (on Dniester and Prut rivers) (2008)

Merchant marine:
total: 39
by type: bulk carrier 2, cargo 32, chemical tanker 2, combination ore/oil 2, petroleum tanker 1
foreign-owned: 17 (Egypt 1, Romania 3, Russia 3, Syria 1, Turkey 3, Ukraine 5, Yemen 1) (2008)

Military

Military branches: National Army: Land Forces, Rapid Reaction Forces, Air and Air Defense Forces (2009)

Military service age and obligation: 18 years of age for compulsory military service; 17 years of age for voluntary service; male registration required at age 16; 12-month service obligation (2009)

Manpower available for military service:
males age 16-49: 1,161,924
females age 16-49: 1,187,771 (2008 est.)

Manpower fit for military service:
males age 16-49: 877,665
females age 16-49: 987,356 (2009 est.)

Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually:
male: 31,633
female: 30,214 (2009 est.)

Military expenditures: 0.4% of GDP (2005 est.)

Transnational Issues

Disputes - international: Moldova and Ukraine operate joint customs posts to monitor the transit of people and commodities through Moldova's break-away Transnistria region, which remains under OSCE supervision

Trafficking in persons:
current situation: Moldova is a major source and, to a lesser extent, a transit country for women and girls trafficked for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation; Moldovan women are trafficked to the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and Western Europe; girls and young women are trafficked within the country from rural areas to Chisinau; children are also trafficked to neighboring countries for forced labor and begging; labor trafficking of men to work in the construction, agriculture, and service sectors of Russia is increasingly a problem
tier rating: Tier 3 - Moldova does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so; the government failed to follow-up on allegations of officials complicit in trafficking cited in the 2007 Report, and it did not demonstrate proactive efforts to identify trafficking victims (2008)

Illicit drugs: limited cultivation of opium poppy and cannabis, mostly for CIS consumption; transshipment point for illicit drugs from Southwest Asia via Central Asia to Russia, Western Europe, and possibly the US; widespread crime and underground economic activity