Moldova is torn between historic links to Russia and a possible future as part of the EU. Whichever direction the country opts for, it must resolve issues with corruption and diversification before it can progress. Kit Gillet reports.
Central & eastern Europe
Latest articles from Moldova
Moldova’s banking sector edges towards stability
April 3, 2018After a troubling period littered with fraud allegations and emergency measures, Moldova’s banks are seeing a slow return to growth and winning back popular trust. Kit Gillet reports.
Moldova CBG hitting the inflation target
July 1, 2014Since taking office as governor of the National Bank of Moldova in 2009, Dorin Drăguţanu has implemented the country’s first inflation-targeting policy, has seen interest rates on loans and deposits decline and has welcomed amendments to the law on financial institutions. He speaks to The Banker about challenges surrounding transparency in the banking sector and economic implications of the Russia-Ukraine crisis.
Crackdown on opaque ownership of Moldovan banks
July 1, 2014The problems faced by Moldova's banking sector are not performance related, but instead are deeply rooted in a lack of transparency in banks’ shareholder structures. After opaque shareholder changes in the country's two largest banks in 2013, authorities are working on a resolution.
Top Black Sea banks ranking, 2014: Asset quality risks rising
May 1, 2014Several of the members of the Organisation of the Black Sea Economic Co-operation are facing rising asset impairment, but the reasons vary.
Mixed blessings of foreign ownership for Black Sea banks
May 1, 2012Levels of foreign ownership vary widely among the banks of the eastern Black Sea countries. While foreign-owned banks went too far, too fast before the crisis, they may be more resilient than locally owned players in a downturn.
Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Belarus dominate CIS banking landscape
May 4, 2011In the past decade, foreign investment and natural resources wealth have transformed the banking landscape in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). The Banker's latest ranking for the region shows which countries have benefited the most from this change.
Moldovan banking system continues to grow assets
May 2, 2006Moldova is a land-locked country of about 4.2 million people. Gross domestic product (GDP) for 2004 was about 32bn lei ($2.6bn), a growth of 7.3% in real terms over 2003. Major contributors to real GDP growth were agriculture (3.4%), services (2.6%) and manufacturing (0.9%).