A deal is described by the ex-Soviet state’s pro-Western president as a “positive precedent” despite a steep increase in price.

Moldova, one of Europe’s poorest countries in per capita terms, is pressing for a renewal of that deal while pursuing any one of a number of alternative avenues to secure supplies.

Moldova, wedged between Ukraine and Romania, has long been regarded as a watchword for corruption, money laundering, and the trafficking of women to neighbouring countries in Europe as prostitutes.

The new loan followed a joint 110 million euro financial package by the EBRD, European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Union (EU).

According to UNCTAD, the FDI flows to the transition economies of South-East Europe and former Soviet republics declined by 58 percent to $24 billion in 2020. FDI grew only in Belarus, Kazakhstan and Montenegro.

At the age of 31, her entrepreneurial journey already featured experiences that take decades for many, from settling in the Silicon Valley and rapidly growing Grabr to fighting for survival of the business during the pandemic.

Trade between Moldova and the "separatist" area is robust. Transnistria is even part of Moldova's Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (DCFTA) with the European Union, something unheard of in other "breakaway" ex-Soviet entities.

Parliament endorsed the new government that emerged from the overwhelming July election victory of the pro-EU Party of Action and Solidarity, including President Maia Sandu’s appointment of Natalia Gavrilita as PM.

The illicit business has boomed as bicycles become a market increasingly being filled with high-end models costing thousands of Euros.