With a geostrategic position in the heart of Europe, bordered by Romania and Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova serves as a gateway both to the west and the east, with access to a market of nearly one billion consumers. Moldova is interconnected with all European states and many Asian countries, with most destinations reachable within 3 hours by air or 2 hours by land.
For the complete list of countries whose citizens do not require a visa to enter the Republic of Moldova, and for those interested in applying for a visa, details are available on the Government's web portal:
www.evisa.gov.md
Visa-free regime with over 100 countries
Citizens of the EU, UK, CIS, CEFTA, USA, Canada, Japan, Korea, UAE, Australia, Israel, Turkey, New Zealand, certain countries in South America and Asia do not need visas to enter the territory of the Republic of Moldova for a stay of up to 90 days within a 6-month period from the date of the first entry.
Chișinău International Airport (airport.md, code KIV) is the largest airfare transportation facility in Moldova. Located around 10 kilometers south of the capital, the Chișinău International Airport handles flights to most European capitals as well as some intercontinental airways. Passenger travel is provided by the local carriers HiSky and FlyOne, and foreign carriers such as TAROM, Turkish Airlines, Austrian, LOT, Tailwind.
Overall 12 air carriers ensure the connection with 37 destinations including direct flights to Vienna, Paris, Frankfurt, London, Rome, Verona, Venice, Barcelona, Bucharest, Milan, Dublin, Istanbul, Bruxelles.
Bălți International Airport (code BZY) is located in the northern part of the country and is the second largest air transportation hub in Moldova. It operates mainly regional flights.
In November 2007, Chișinău International Airport completed the stage of substituting an essential part of runways lighting equipment (produced by Siemens AG Company). This allows the airport certification according to ICAO I, II category. Also, Moldova International Airport is now a member of ACI (Airports Council International).
- 2 254 199 passengers in 2022
Why Moldova
Connections to major European cities
London
Vienna/
Frankfurt
Bucharest
Chisinau
Istanbul/
Kiev
Moscow
Chisinau International Airport
Flights per day
Flights per week
Winter time
25
175
Summer time
50
350
The Dniester River and the Proute River are suitable for navigation but neither plays any significant roles in the freight trade or travel. Navigation on these rivers occurs for tourism considerations. However, the Republic of Moldova has an international port in Giurgiulești on the Danube River side, which includes a cereal terminal and an oil terminal, with access to the Black Sea (some 133 km). The Giurgiulești International Port is a free economic zone that offers tax incentives for investors.
Railway transportation is a secure and cheap option compared to other means of transportation. The national railway operator is Calea Ferată din Moldova (Moldovan Railways) and provides for both freight movement and passenger travel. Moldova is connected to Romania’s and Ukraine’s rail systems. The border into Ukraine is crossed at the checkpoints Ocnița, north, and Basarabeasca, south-east. For Romania there are checkpoints in Ungheni, west, and Giurgiulești, south-west.
The principal junctions of Moldova’s railways are in Chișinău, Bender, Ocnița, Bălți, and Basarabeasca. Moldova has rail linkages with Odessa and Ivano-Frankivsk in Ukraine, Iași and Galați in Romania. From there, trains run for international destinations everywhere - Moscow and St.Petersburg (Russia), Minsk (Belarus), Kiev, Chernovtsy, Nikolaev (Ukraine), Bucharest, Brașov, Cluj-Napoca (Romania), Istanbul (Turkey), Sofia (Bulgaria), Berlin (Germany), Prague (Czech Republic). The total length of Moldovan rail lines is more than 1,230 kilometers.
No private roads exist in the Republic of Moldova - all are public - and they are either national or local. The public road network brings together more than 9,400 kilometers, of which national roads make up around 3,300 kilometers.
Six roads represent thoroughfares that connect with the international transportation routes and are part of the 7th and 9th Pan-European Transport Corridors, which eases the access to EU and CIS markets and to northern and southern countries, respectively. The country is also crossed by the TRACECA Corridor and is linked with the TEN-T Trans-European Corridor.
The transportation by road has captured the largest share of cargo shipping in Moldova - more than 63% of all.
The telecommunications and internet market (ICT) is one of the most dynamic and liberalized sectors in the Republic of Moldova, with the biggest added value. Growth has been strongest in such services as mobile telephony, broadband mobile internet, and broadband fixed-lines internet. Mobile telephony and mobile internet are based on the 4G technology while operators are experimenting already with 5G.
The biggest players in the ICT market are Moldtelecom - a public enterprise, Orange Moldova - which is controlled the French giant Orange as its majority shareholder, Moldcell - founded by an international consortium, and StarNet - a local private company. Overall there are more than 50 internet and phone services providers in Moldova.
The mobile signal covers on average 99% of territory and internet is is available on more than 80% of Moldovan land.
The average download speed of internet in Moldova overpasses the indicators in other countries of the region (48 Mbps)
The ICT sector thrives thanks to the support from the Moldovan Government via various tax incentives.