Introducing: Moldova Matters

What is this newsletter and why should you care?

So, what is this Newsletter about anyhow?

The idea of the weekly “Moldova Matters” newsletter roundup is one that I have been considering for some time. There is little English language news from Moldova and almost no analysis currently. With a short weekly newsletter I hope to fill this gap with a view of the main stories of the week, their context and hopefully a few jokes along the way. Occasionally we will have some more in-depth analysis on specific issues of interest to me or suggested to me by others - we’ll kinda see how things go. 

My hope is that this will be an interesting resource to expats and others abroad who want to keep up with the news in Moldova but don’t have the time or inclination to go digging around the Moldovan news themselves. I’ll try and have links to articles in reliable publications so you can read more (with the help of google translate perhaps) and take a deeper dive into issues of interest to you. 

Ok, I get that, but who are you and why should I read what you write?

A fine question indeed. I’m a native of Virginia who moved to Moldova in 2012 as a United States Peace Corps Volunteer. After 2 years of development work focused on small business development and youth programs, I decided to stay and start an American BBQ and Craft Beer restaurant with some friends. Our idea was to build a corruption-free company in a country where people said that was not possible. Many of our early adventures are cataloged in my old blog.

Since opening the restaurant, I have also split my time as an advocate for economic reform and transparency as a tool to fight corruption. I co-founded the Moldova Small Enterprise Alliance and currently serve as it’s Board President. This has left me spending lots of time in the last 4 years considering issues at the intersection of economics and politics. This newsletter is my choosing to share some of this experience and my thoughts along the way.

Alright then…

If you are so inclined, let me know what you think! This idea is new and I fully expect it to evolve over time. Surely I will make mistakes (it’s just me - no newsroom here) and omit big stories either because I didn’t think they were important or because I cut them to make room for something else. In any of these cases please drop me an email and let me know, I hope to learn from feedback to make this a more interesting resource as time goes on. 

That’s all for now, hello from Chisinau to everyone who got this far, and stay healthy in these crazy times!

David Smith