The criteria for granting the status of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) must be gradually adjusted to European standards, in order to support all companies that encounter difficulties due to their size and to ensure a greater impact on the national economy. A study by Public Association "Partnerships for the New Economy" (PNE) proposes to increase the turnover and asset ceilings for SMEs to 200 million lei (about 10 million euros) starting with the year 2026.
Currently, the turnover and asset ceiling for SMEs in the Republic of Moldova is approximately 10 times smaller than that in the European Union. Thus, an enterprise is considered an SME if it has a turnover or total assets of no more than 100 million lei (approximately 5 million euros), compared to 50 million euros in EU countries (respectively 43 million euros for total assets). According to the study, this discrepancy may create disadvantages for Moldovan companies compared to European ones and may limit their access to support for SMEs.
The authors of the analysis – Dumitru Pântea and Vadim Gumene, presented five scenarios for adjusting the financial criterion and recommended, in addition to the gradual increase in the turnover ceiling, the introduction of several other criteria, including that of the ownership structure.
"Aligning the definition of SMEs in the Republic of Moldova with European standards must be a well-structured process, based on extensive consultations with the private sector and rigorous assessments of the economic impact. Digitalization, reducing bureaucracy and facilitating access to financing are very important to ensure a successful transition. The definition of SMEs is the basis of various public policies in the energy, fiscal, financial, agricultural fields. Thus, any change in the definition of SMEs must also be viewed from the perspective of these policies in order not to distort the intended effect. Also, regarding the state's financial support for SMEs, the volume of resources is limited and any expansion of the group of eligible companies must be carefully operated",
he stated Dumitru Pântea within a "round table" to present the study.
The authors of the study evaluated, in light of EU provisions, the criteria for assigning SME status, including: (i) number of employees, (ii) turnover and value of assets.
Macroeconomic developments in recent years suggest the need to increase the ceilings for turnover and total assets to avoid some companies losing their SME status due to inflation and labor productivity growth. The situation is much more acute for medium-sized companies, where the average turnover of companies employing between 50 and 250 employees exceeds the current ceiling in several sectors. Losing SME status would disadvantage some relatively small companies compared to their EU competitors and some large national companies, the study shows.
Average value of turnover and total assets for companies employing between 50 and 249 employees by sectors of the national economy
The actual level of the turnover ceiling in relation to economic developments in the period 2022 – 2024
Scenario 2. Structure of the national economy if the ceiling for the financial criterion increases by 2 times (modeling based on data recorded at the end of 2023)
See the study "Alignment of the national SME definition with the provisions of the European framework in the field: intervention options" (PDF file, 2.2 MB, will open in new tab).
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