Expert-Grup

State support for firms in Moldova during the pandemic crisis is the lowest in the region

Monday, 22 February 20214177 views
State support for firms in Moldova during the pandemic crisis is the lowest in the region

Automatically translated summary. The full article is available in Romanian.

Companies in the Republic of Moldova received the least state support during the pandemic crisis compared with regional countries such as Romania, Poland, Georgia and Russia. This is shown by a World Bank survey cited in the 22nd edition of the MEGA Publication by the Independent Think Tank “Expert-Grup”.

Only 5.9% of Moldovan firms said they had received, or expected to receive, state support, against 79.4% in Poland, 51.4% in Georgia and 48.5% in Romania. Small firms were hit hardest and helped least: just 2% of those with up to 20 employees reported aid, compared with 10-15% of medium-sized and large ones.

About 22% of surveyed firms said they did not qualify, and 31% did not know that support existed, which points to poor communication between the authorities and business, according to Stas Madan, senior economist at Expert-Grup. Firms that were ineligible outnumber recipients by almost four times. Madan expects states to keep intervening actively in 2021, including through derogations from budget and fiscal rules. MEGA authors forecast economic growth of about 5.4% in 2021.

View the original article in Romanian