More opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises

Chișinău, November 5, 2026 – Parliament voted in the second reading on a bill harmonizing the regulatory framework for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with the European acquis, which will expand their access to support programs and instruments.

The bill, drafted by the Ministry of Economic Development and Digitalization, aims to harmonize the criteria for classifying SMEs and establish advanced mechanisms to support export competitiveness and access to financing.

The document provides for changes to the criteria for classifying SMEs by increasing the annual turnover threshold from €25 million to €50 million and the ceiling for total assets from €21.5 million to €43 million. Applying the new financial thresholds and the methodology harmonized with European standards would allow an additional 147 enterprises to be included in the SME category. Thus, more economic operators will be able to benefit from the available support programs and instruments.

At the same time, the category of small mid-cap enterprises has been regulated in legislation. Until now, the classification framework provided only for micro-enterprises and small and medium-sized enterprises. Enterprises exceeding the applicable thresholds were directly classified as large enterprises, with no intermediate category. This situation may limit incentives for expanding operations and making new investments, affecting the growth potential and the strengthening of enterprises’ competitiveness.

Another adopted provision concerns the establishment of a specific support mechanism for financing export activities. This includes instruments such as providing guarantees or insurance for export credits, directly financing or refinancing such credits, as well as measures to support interest rates.

These measures are intended to diversify financing sources, reduce exclusive reliance on bank lending, and strengthen alternative mechanisms for supporting enterprises.

For the second reading, the bill was supplemented with an amendment proposed by Marcel Spatari, Chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Economy, Budget and Finance. The amendment provides that guarantees issued by the Guarantee Fund will also cover loans granted to SMEs through crowdfunding platforms authorized and supervised by the National Commission for Financial Markets. This will ensure equal treatment for different financing channels and facilitate access to financing for economic operators that do not have sufficient collateral to obtain bank loans.

The new law will enter into force one month after its publication in the Official Journal, with the exception of the articles referring to the SME classification thresholds and the category of small mid-cap enterprises. These provisions will enter into force on January 1, 2028.

It should be noted that the small and medium-sized enterprise sector represents the main segment of the Republic of Moldova’s economy. SMEs account for 99.6% of the total number of enterprises and generate more than 72% of the national turnover.