Business in Moldova’s border zone is being shifted to a new regime: what it means for the Ukrainian Danube region

The Republic of Moldova is preparing to change its approach to business activity in the border strip: instead of the previous permit-based mechanism, a notification regime is being proposed for certain economic operators within 1 km of the state border. These changes stem from the implementation of Moldova’s Law No. 28/2024 on the state border and are being discussed within the framework of a government draft secondary regulation. According to the consultation documents, the new model is intended to replace the previous approach, under which approvals applied to a broader 10-km border zone and submissions had to be made in written form.

 According to the published materials, several channels are envisaged for submitting notifications: through the e-Permis electronic system, by email to Border Police subdivisions, or in paper form. The draft provisions also include a mechanism under which, if no response is provided within the established period, the notification is deemed to have entered into force automatically, while in the event of identified violations the business operator may be granted a period to remedy them.

At the same time, the reform is being presented by the Moldovan authorities as a tool for reducing administrative burdens and digitalizing interaction between the state and business.

Comment by the Institute of Danube Research

Moldova’s transition from permits to a notification regime in the border zone is a demonstrative example of how a security regime can be combined with deregulation and digitalization.

Experts at the Institute of Danube Research believe that this initiative has strategic significance for the Ukrainian Danube region. It concerns an adjacent cross-border space within which daily economic, logistics, agricultural, and service ties are formed between the border territories of Moldova, Romania, and Ukraine. Any simplification of launching legal business activity near the border can potentially increase business mobility, accelerate the circulation of services, and create more favorable conditions for small and medium-sized enterprises, particularly in agriculture, trade, tourism, and related services. According to the Moldovan side, these sectors already form the basis of economic activity in the border zone.

It can also be projected that for the south of Odesa region this will provide an additional impetus to the development of cross-border economic interaction — above all in areas related to servicing logistics flows, agricultural production, border services, and the creation of new small investment niches. At a time when the Ukrainian Danube region is becoming increasingly integrated into regional transport and trade chains, the simplification of regulatory regimes in the adjacent territories of Moldova objectively strengthens the competitive dynamics of the entire border belt.