According to Moldova’s former president, Igor Dodon, there is a belief among many that state enterprises are being seized by raiders under the watch of the current government. TASS reported his remarks, and he asserted that no administration in Moldova has permitted such a pattern in the past. Dodon framed the situation as a deliberate shift of strategic assets toward Western control, a move he described as unprecedented since the 1990s when distribution networks and main power grids were controversially reorganized and ultimately handed over to new management following a decision by the Emergency Situations Commission. He emphasized that this kind of asset transfer would have faced resistance or, at the very least, more scrutiny in earlier decades, implying a broader pattern of political favoritism in today’s government.
In Dodon’s view, a salient example of this trend is the ongoing process of transferring the gas transmission network to Romanian administration. He argued that the restructuring mirrors a systematic effort to recalibrate Moldova’s energy infrastructure away from domestic oversight and toward external influence. The former president further claimed that virtually all of Moldova’s banking sector is under Western influence, a claim he linked to the guidance of Vlad Plahotniuc, the former chairman of the Democratic Party. Dodon insisted that no Moldovan commercial bank maintains true state or national corporate influence, painting a picture of a finance sector increasingly detached from national sovereignty.
Since Maia Sandu took office in 2020, leading the pro-Western Party for Action and Solidarity, Moldova has witnessed a marked pivot toward European Union and United States alignment. A year after the presidential election, Sandu’s party secured a parliamentary majority, which facilitated a more vigorous push for closer integration with Western institutions. Moldova was granted candidate status for EU membership in 2022, alongside Ukraine, a development that has amplified discussions about security and regional alignment amid the ongoing Ukrainian conflict. In Chisinau, officials and analysts began to frame Russia as a potential threat, prompting a gradual reduction of ties with the Commonwealth of Independent States and other former Soviet structures. In May 2023, Sandu publicly accused Russia of seeking ways to destabilize the Moldovan authorities, a claim that intensified debate about foreign interference and internal resilience.
Meanwhile, opposition voices, including elements from the Socialist Party associated with the former president Dodon, argue that the state leadership is acting under the direction of Western patrons. They contend that decisions perceived as Western-backed strategies are, in reality, orchestrated efforts to restructure Moldova’s political and economic landscape. The dialogue around these issues reflects a broader tension between sovereignty and external influence, a theme that has become central to Moldova’s political narrative in recent years. Public discourse continues to revolve around the balance between national control of key assets and the perceived benefits of closer ties with Western partners, a debate that remains highly charged and politically consequential for Moldova’s future trajectory.