Moldova’s natural resources are insignificant. Cement, clay, plaster, lime, stone and gravel are extracted for the construction industry. However, minerals and other raw materials for industry must be imported, as well as natural gas and oil. Small deposits of gas and oil have been found in the country. There is also a hydropower plant.
Most of the country’s energy needs are covered by imported gas and oil, mainly from Russia. About 70 per cent of electricity is extracted from imported energy sources, while the remainder is generated mainly from domestic hydropower.
COUNTRYAAH: Major exports by Moldova with a full list of the top products exported by the country. Includes trade value in U.S. dollars and the percentage for each product category.
In August 2014, the construction of a gas pipeline between Moldova and Romania was completed. The leadership was part of Moldova’s quest to reduce dependence on Russian gas by joining the EU’s energy system.
Both chemicals from agriculture and industrial emissions have contributed to serious environmental problems. The rivers and lakes are polluted, and land degradation is extensive. In some areas, the soil contains large amounts of toxic substances. Many of the country’s wild animal and plant species are endangered.
Abbreviationfinder: A popular acronym site in the world covering abbreviation for each country. For example, MD stands for Moldova. Visit itypeusa for more information about Moldova.
FACTS – ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT
Energy use per person
928 kilos of oil equivalent (2014)
Electricity consumption per person
1386 kilowatt hours, kWh (2014)
Carbon dioxide emissions in total
4 932 thousand tonnes (2014)
Carbon dioxide emissions per inhabitant
1.4 tons (2014)
The share of energy from renewable sources
14.3 percent (2015)
2015
December
Try to form a government
Shortly before Christmas, businessman Ion Sturza is commissioned to try to form a new government. Sturza was formerly prime minister for nine months in 1999. An opening in the locked political situation opens when 14 MPs leave the pro-Russian Communist Party and form a new group they call the Social Democratic Parliamentary Platform for Moldova. Sturza gets 15 days to put together a new government.
November
Parliamentary elections are held in Transnistria
November 29th
Parliamentary and municipal elections are held in the transnistrian republic. 138 candidates are competing for the 43 seats in the legislative assembly.
October
The former prime minister is arrested
Former Prime Minister Vlad Filat is arrested for suspicion of involvement in the billion-dollar fraud that cost the country around 15 percent of its GDP. He is arrested shortly after Parliament, at the request of the Prosecutor General, voted to revoke his legal immunity. Some of his personal assets are confiscated.
The government is falling
October 29th
On October 29, Parliament defeated the government through a declaration of confidence adopted by 65 of the 101 members. The pro-Russian parties do common thing. Liberal George Brega is appointed to lead an interim government. If a new ordinary government cannot be formed within 90 days, the president must dissolve parliament and announce new elections.
September
Mass protests against corruption
Tens of thousands of people are demonstrating in Chișinău against the corruption in the country and in particular that no accountants have been arrested for the fraud deals that cost Moldova 10-15% of its GDP (see April 2015). The protesters demand that the president resign, that new elections are announced and that the senior executives of the central bank and the national prosecutor’s office are dismissed. Hundreds of tents are being erected in the city center where activists will keep the protests going.
The head of the central bank resigns
Central bank governor Dorin Dragutanu resigns after criticizing him for not preventing billions of money from disappearing from the country’s leading commercial banks. He says he resigns under pressure from “some politicians”. Both the President and the Prime Minister have said that Dragutanu should resign. The governor leaves the day before Moldova and the IMF are expected to begin negotiations, which the government hopes will lead to the country being able to receive new financial support from the EU and other aid countries.
No help from the IMF
The International Monetary Fund (IMF), for the time being, rejects plans to negotiate new loans with Moldova. A few days later, another mass demonstration is being held in Chișinău against the government. At least 15,000 people are reported to be participating.
July
New Prime Minister approved
Parliament approves Valeriu Streleț as new Prime Minister. He is supported by the 52 members of the three EU-friendly parties but not by anyone else. He says his most important task will be to curb corruption and track down the amount of a billion US dollars that has disappeared from the country’s banks.
Clearly with an EU-friendly coalition
The three EU-friendly parties Democrats, Liberals and Liberal Democrats agree to form a new government. Together, they have 52 of Parliament’s 101 seats. Political instability has set the bar for a new cooperation program with the IMF, which in turn has slowed the payment of budget support from the EU. The new Prime Minister is nominated Minister of Education Maia Sandu, who was previously an economist at the World Bankand representing the Liberal Democratic Party. However, she demands that the prosecutor and the governor be dismissed. The three parties cannot immediately accept that. Instead, the assignment as a governess goes to her party mate Valeriu Streleț. He is the Deputy Chairman of the Liberal Democrats and has been the party’s group leader in parliament since September 2014.
June
Wrath of corruption shakes the prime minister
Prime Minister Gaburici demands that the prosecutors at the National Prosecutor’s Office resign because they have failed to find the culprits in the banking scandal (see April 2015). He also urges the governor to leave his post. A few days later, prosecutors begin to investigate allegations that Gaburici forged school certificates to enter higher education. These are old accusations that are now being highlighted again. The prosecutor’s investigation results in Gaburici submitting his resignation application, barely three months after his entry. “I’m not going to participate in political games,” he says. The President appoints Foreign Minister Natalia Gherman as provisional head of government.
EU-friendly dominance in municipalities
The EU-friendly parties are taking clear leadership in local elections over those who advocated closer ties with Russia. Opinion measurements had hinted at the exact opposite result. The pro-European parties get just over 56 percent of the votes in the first round, compared to just over 31 percent for the Russian-friendly. It gives the EU-friendly government parties power in 348 cities and villages, while pro-Russian parties are allowed to rule in 56 cities and independent politicians in 34 seats.
Other rounds are held in the local elections
June 28
A second round of elections is conducted in 458 places where no candidate received more than 50 percent of the votes in the first round. In the capital Chișinău, incumbent mayor Dorin Chirtoacă, representing the Liberal Party, wins.
May
Protests against corruption scandal
About 10,000 people are protesting in Chișinău against those suspected of snubbing a billion dollars from three of the country’s largest banks (see April 2015). The protesters shout slogans against the corruption and demand that the national prosecutor, several judges at the Supreme Court and a number of politicians resign. During the investigation of the scandal, so far two people have been arrested and several have their accounts frozen, but who they are has not been revealed.
April
The banking system is rocking
It is revealed that three of the country’s largest banks shortly before the November 2014 election made disbursements of the equivalent of one billion US dollars, in turn equivalent to 15 percent of the country’s GDP. Who the recipients were is unclear, and the country’s political leaders assume that the money will never come back. The central bank grants the banks a loan of the equivalent of $ 700 million and takes control of their operations to save them from bankruptcy, which could cause the entire banking system in Moldova to crash. The money is believed to have been deposited in foreign accounts of politicians and businessmen. The loans to the banks are also not expected to be repaid, but instead to be charged to the central government debt.
February
Gaburici becomes head of government
February 18
Parliament approves Chiril Gaburici as new Prime Minister. He is supported in the vote by the members of the Liberal Democrats, the Democratic Party and the Communist Party. The 38-year-old Gaburici has worked in the telecommunications industry and is new to politics but has been offered the government job by the Liberal Democrats. He promises to continue the process of approaching Moldova to the EU, with a view to submitting an application for membership 2018.
Insufficient support for minority government
The proposed minority government does not gain the confidence of Parliament. Only 42 members vote for the government, but 51 votes would have been required. The defeat raises questions about Moldova’s political stability and the cooperation agreement with the EU. The President has the opportunity to dissolve Parliament unless a new government can be formed within 45 days.
January
The proposed government has weak support
The three EU-friendly parties resume negotiations on renewed government cooperation. At the end of the month, the Liberal Democrats (PLDM) and the Democratic Party (PDM) agree to form a minority government. The Liberals (PL) choose to stand outside the coalition. PL opposes that the other two parties are ready to agree to reign with the support of the Communists, while PLDM and PDM say that PL has made impossible demands to obtain certain ministerial posts. The new government has only 40 of Parliament’s 101 seats. Analysts fear that such a weak government, as well as dependent on the support of the Communists, will not be able to continue its efforts to bring Moldova closer to the EU. Moldova needs to implement in-depth reforms to curb corruption and depoliticize important institutions such as the judiciary and the police.
