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only 0.5pp to the overall 10.3% GDP y/y advance, but this is only
because the sector hadn’t contracted in 2020 as industry and services
did.

In the coming years, the civil engineering segment is likely to play a
more substantial role in the expansion of the construction activity in
Moldova, as foreign financing is being resumed.

For instance, Moldova has already negotiated a €150mn loan from the
European Investment Bank (EIB) for road repairs and will negotiate a
similar loan with the European Bank for Reconstruction and
Development (EBRD).

The money will be used for the rehabilitation of segments of the
national roads M2, M3 and M5. Previously, some of these roads were to
be rehabilitated from a loan negotiated with China, while former
president Igor Dodon was seeking Russian financing as well.

3.6.6 Major Sectors

Moldova’s agriculture offers significant investment opportunities and the
local companies in the sector are growing fast as well. The edible oil
production and winery segments are among the most developed, but
fruit production and processing are also gaining ground. Some of the
most successful Moldovan companies in the sector are those who
expanded in Romania either to capture a larger market (Purcari winery,
listed at Bucharest Stock Exchange) or to coordinate regional
operations (Trans-Oil, which set up headquarters in Bucharest after
buying assets in Serbia).

Floarea Soarelui sunflower oil producer in Balti, the largest producer of
vegetable oil in Moldova and part of the Trans-Oil group controlled by
Vaja Jhashi, has announced a major investment plan. In July 2021, the
company announced that it would invest $30mn in a new sunoil plant in
the port of Giurgiulesti where it operates a terminal. It would be the
group's third plant in Moldova. It is estimated that about MDL2.5bn

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