Moldovan businesses want to return to the Russian market, a Moldovan MP said at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum
The policies of President Maia Sandu’s pro-EU government are hurting Moldova’s economy, the nation’s former president, Igor Dodon, said on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF). However, the country’s authorities have no concern about what happens to their people, as they only care about following Brussels’ orders, he added.
Gas prices in Moldova have jumped sevenfold over the four years Sandu’s government has been in power, according to Dodon.
“They are acting on the orders of their Western curators. They do not care what happens to our nation’s economy. They only want to push [Moldova] away from the Russian Federation,” said Dodon, who took part in meetings with representatives of several Russian ministries at SPIEF.
His words were echoed by another member of the Moldovan delegation at SPIEF, Vadim Fotescu, an MP and member of the opposition Victorie bloc. Moldovan businesses had to “hit the pause button” in their dealings with Russia because of Sandu’s policies, he said at one of the sessions, adding that the nation’s entrepreneurs are willing to work with Russia and want to return to its market.
Fotescu said that the EU had done nothing for Moldova but subject it to “credit slavery,” while throwing its businesses under the bus, noting that Moldovan entrepreneurs are now persecuted for having ties to former Soviet republics, including Russia.
Exiled Moldovan tycoon Ilan Shor, who is the leader of the Victorie political bloc, confirmed this view at SPIEF, asserting that the West deliberately tries to “buy off” nations facing economic difficulties to turn them into “vassals, slaves” who do their masters’ bidding. Shor held that this is what has happened to Ukraine, which is pushing its people to die for Western interests in its conflict with Moscow.
Dodon stated on Wednesday that Moldova has no other path forward but to return to economic cooperation with Russia and other post-Soviet states. “Moldova will not survive economically without Russia,” he told Radio Sputnik on the sidelines of SPIEF. According to the politician, the nation’s debt has grown twofold over the past four years, and the Moldovan economy grew only by 0.1% in 2024.
When Sandu came to power in Moldova in 2020, the former Soviet republic quickly changed course and began to quickly move towards EU and NATO membership. Her pro-Western and anti-Russian bent has triggered mounting domestic pushback driven by economic discontent, accusations of political repression, and a crackdown on the Moldovan Orthodox Church.
During her tenure, Sandu has launched crackdowns on opposition parties and media outlets that she describes as criminal entities, while defending her actions as efforts to counter alleged pro-Russian influence.
