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European Commission - Speech [Check Against Delivery] Speech by Commissioner Marta Kos at EU-Moldova Investment Conference Chi ș inău, 4 June 2026 Dear President, dear Maia Sandu, Dear Prime Minister, dear Alexandru Munteanu, Honorable Ministers, ladies and gentlemen, It is good to be back in Moldova. It is now about a year since I was here to sign the EU Growth Plan - the single largest EU financial support package ...
European Commission - Speech [Check Against Delivery] Speech by Commissioner Marta Kos at EU-Moldova Investment Conference Chi ș inău, 4 June 2026 Dear President, dear Maia Sandu, Dear Prime Minister, dear Alexandru Munteanu, Honorable Ministers, ladies and gentlemen, It is good to be back in Moldova. It is now about a year since I was here to sign the EU Growth Plan - the single largest EU financial support package since Moldova's independence. At the time, I travelled through the country to meet the people who will benefit from it. The mayors who will help implement projects. The entrepreneurs who will bring them to life. From Ungheni, Băl ț i, and Edine ț , to Comrat, Cahul and the Danube Delta, I met a lot of people, with great ambition. Eager to get to work. And I met many young people, eager to grasp the opportunities their European future will bring. Here, at home. This is the call we are here to answer with this Investment Conference. The last years have changed how Europeans look at Moldova. Europe sees Moldova's potential. They have seen a nation that stood up against foreign interference and hybrid attacks and made its choice for Europe. They have seen a country that is moving against corruption and organized crime, putting people in jail that once seemed untouchable. And we are seeing a nation that is delivering on enlargement reforms at record speed! Moldova is a top performer. [Very soon we will now formally open the negotiation clusters. You deserve this. It will allow us to formalize all the work you have done to make sure no time is lost.] In many areas, including the all-important rule of law reforms, the informal negotiations allowed you to get ahead and build the foundation for your future membership of the EU. We have also seen impressive numbers in the implementation of the Growth Plan reforms. With 93%, Moldova is ahead of all other EU candidates that have Growth Plans. This builds trust. We see your progress. We see your potential. And so do many investors. Investors are already betting on Moldova's European future. We have launched a Call for Expressions of Interest for European companies interested in tailor-made EU support for investing in Moldova. We focused on agri-food and food processing, manufacturing and light industry, renewable energy, ICT and digital services, tourism, and transport logistics. Those are areas where Moldova has real competitive advantages. We had a great response. We received more than 75 projects. Today we will sign letters of intent with the first eight companies. They represent around EUR 208 million in intended investments. Additionally, we have lined up intended investments by financial institutions of up to EUR 433 million. These will be mobilized through a combination of EU grants, guarantees and loans, alongside financing from international financial institutions, the government of Moldova and the private sector. In total, EU support is bringing up to EUR 640 million in intended investments. Together with the private sector investments announced by the Government of Moldova of EUR 364 million, this brings the total investment to more than EUR 1 billion. What is hiding behind these numbers? We are talking about companies, such as Bosaq from Belgium. A water company that wants to build modern drinking water stations across Moldova. Or Balkan Pharmaceuticals, a certified pharmaceutical manufacturer. They are already employing more than 400 specialists her in Moldova. And they are looking to increase their footprint. That is a great vote of confidence. Moldova is attractive. Because you have started to replicate the proven recipe of success of so many countries that have joined the European Union. That recipe is simple: reforms that improve the business environment and legal certainty lead to investments, which in turn lead to economic growth and innovation. This is what happened to my country, Slovenia. This happened in Croatia, In Croatia, where unemployment fell from 17% to 4% in just over a decade. And it happened to the Baltic countries. Just like Moldova, they regained their independence in the 1990s. They joined the EU in 2004 and now stand at about 85% of EU GDP. And today, they are investing here in Moldova. Two of the companies that will sign letters of intent today are from the Baltics. From Latvia and Lithuania. This is the power of small countries. Moldova can follow that same path. That European path to prosperity that will bring opportunities to your hard-working and innovative people, at home, in the many towns and villages I visited last year. The business case for Moldova is strong. Because the economic relationship between the European Union and Moldova is already deep. Moldovan producers already have direct access to the world's largest single market. And since Moldova joined the Single Euro Payments Area any company in Moldova can make transactions with their European clients within minutes at near-zero cost. That is real money on your balance sheets. More of that integration into European structures is to come, even ahead of full membership. Take energy: Moldova has moved with remarkable speed in transforming its energy sector. Moldova is already fully integrated into the European electricity markets. A step we took after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. And by the end of next year, Moldova will also be fully decoupled from Russian gaz. And another big story is in the making: in the last four years, Moldova's renewable energy capacity has grown by nearly 800%. The country is approaching 1,000 megawatts of installed renewable capacity. Just this April, renewables covered more than a third of national consumption. At certain intervals even close to 100%. This is a market that is moving fast in the right direction. I am not surprised you have attracted the attention of companies that build data centers. There is one more area of great potential I would like to highlight. Geography has not always been kind to Moldova, but your geographic position between Europe and Eastern markets is a competitive advantage in transport and logistics. One of the letters of intent for investments is with Danube Logistics. A company that owns and operates Giurgiule ș ti International Free Port, Moldova's main sea-river port. This is a promising and growing sector, especially now as the European Union is looking for alternative trading routes to Asia and increasingly looking towards the Black Sea region and the Southern Caucasus. Moldova is an essential link along this route. Dear business leaders, dear investors, Now is a good time to invest in Moldova. Because despite all the uncertainty in the world, one trend is clear: Moldova will be much deeper integrated into the European economy. Not only at the point of membership, but already long before. It is already happening. We see the progress in reforms. This success is the basis for the future success of your country. Change is coming to Moldova. I can already see it. Now let us get many investment projects off the ground so the people of Moldova can see it and feel it too. I wish you a very successful EU-Moldova Investment Conference. SPEECH/26/1261
Speech Brief