Moldova’s Econ Min Sees FDI Halving This Year from $849 Mln in 2008

Investment plans worth a combined $300-$400 million were cancelled by two foreign companies, Parker and Geox, due to a political crisis that started in Moldova in April, the ministry said in a statement.

Moldova has been in a political limbo since the April 5 elections, in which the Communist Party won 49.48% of the vote - enough to form a government of its own but short of the of the three-fifths majority needed to elect the president.

On April 7 Moldovan youths said the vote had been rigged and showed their disagreement with the election results in violent street protests, looting parliament building and the president’s office. After failing to elect a head of state twice, the parliament had to be dissolved and new elections were held on July 29.

The ministry added that the most attractive sectors for foreign investors in 2008 were retail, financial services, processing industry, real estate and utilities.

The Netherlands, Cyprus, Italy, Russia and Germany are the largest foreign investors in Moldova, the ministry said.

Mainly agricultural Moldova ranked 103rd in terms of easiness of doing business among the 181 countries surveyed in the World Bank’s report "Doing Business 2009". The country, wedged between Romania and Ukraine, was 19th among 25 countries in the region of Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

($=0.7088 euro)