As the EU chilled relations with Moldova over the last past year, accusing it of flouting democratic standards, the Moldovan government has been trying to compensate for the loss of European funds by seeking investors from elsewhere.
One solution hit on by the authorities is to sell citizenship to anyone willing to pay 100,000 euros, or make 250,000 euros’ worth of investments.
The move has raised eyebrows among the country’s Western partners and donors, and among experts at home, too.
“An investor who comes to Moldova to invest in business and production does not need Moldovan citizenship. All he needs is an easy-to-use regime to obtain a residence visa on comfortable terms and reasonable procedures to manage and control his business,” an economic expert, Sergiu Gaibu, told BIRN.
