REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA’S ECONOMIC RESTRUCTURING AND GROWTH AMIDST EUROPEAN INTEGRATION PROCESS

The European integration of the Republic of Moldova is an ongoing process that has materialized through a multitude of democratic and economic reforms. They involved liberalizing markets, privatizing stateowned enterprises, aligning with EU single market regulations, improving the business environment, and fostering a market economy. These reforms have determined important changes in the structure of the national economy, with the agrarian economy gradually being replaced by one oriented towards trade and services, while economic growth continued to be fuelled by consumption and imports. The article investigates the structural transformations of the Moldovan economy amidst European integration and the level of economic convergence with the Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries. Using qualitative and quantitative analysis, it tracks the dynamics of economic growth under important disruptive factors starting with the first years of transition until the present, and carries out a comparative analysis with the CEE countries regarding the level of economic convergence. In addition, it presents the contribution of the main economic activities and sectors to the formation of gross value added and the factors that determined GDP growth in the Republic of Moldova. The results obtained show important structural changes in the Moldovan economy, with the consolidation of the services sector, which has become the main engine of gross value added. More than that, it unveiled the existence of significant discrepancies in relation to the CEE countries, generated by structural vulnerabilities, but also a slow and fragile real convergence.