Small business goes green and creates jobs in rural Moldova

After decades of working abroad, Anatolie Peancovschi managed to start a car wash using an environment-friendly technology in his home village in the Republic of Moldova. Thanks to ILO support, he was able to expand his small business now employing four local people previously without jobs.

The first wave of labour migrants from Moldova began in the early 1990s, driven by their aspirations for better work and a higher quality of life for themselves and their families. Consequently, Anatolie Peancovschi, from Grigorauca, a small Moldovan village, first migrated to Russia, then to Italy and Switzerland. He was a young man of only 21 years when left Moldova. Over the next 25 years, he moved back and forth, always hoping to return home for good. Anatolie had a dream of starting his own business in Moldova and growing old with his wife, close to his sons. Now at last, Anatolie is back home. With the state support he has received he managed to become an entrepreneur.  The training and assistance provided by the ILO enabled him not only to expand the business now employing four local people, but also empower his community, and at the same time protect Moldova’s natural resources. 

Over 350,000 Moldovans have left the country during the last decade due to outmigration. One in three households has at least one family member abroad, exacerbating the country’s brain drain and labour shortages, with children left behind, as well as many empty communities. Family reunification outside of Moldova has increased by 30 per cent in just a few years. Not many of those who left have decided to return—making Anatolie a notable exception. Not only was he reunited with this wife and his old mother, but he also fulfilled his dream of becoming an entrepreneur. Initially, he joined the public program “PARE 1+1”, designed to match public funds with resources of returned migrants seeking to start a business.  

“I am back home and happy where I am”, reveals Anatolie. “As a migrant, I worked in the construction sector, but car mechanics was always my hobby. In Switzerland I practiced it quite often and learned a lot”. 

Back to Moldova, Anatolie bought an old building in his village and launched the first entrepreneurial effort, a carwash, with support from “PARE 1+1”. The service became popular very quickly. 

“I was eager to expand my business and make it more eco-friendly, but I needed to learn how,” shares Anatolie. “One day, I discovered the partnership between the Organization for Small and Medium Enterprises (ODA) and the International Labour Organization (ILO) and their support for rural entrepreneurs. I applied to the programme and was soon enrolled.” 

The ILO project aimed to stimulate the green economy in Moldova and create more and better jobs. Among other initiatives, the ILO supported ODA and five local Business Incubators in launching the 'Support to Green Grants Challenge' initiative. Over two hundred rural entrepreneurs were trained and coached in green business practices through the ILO's Start and Improve Your Business (SIYB) training programme. Half of these entrepreneurs were selected to access financing and be supported in developing business plans, 50 new green start-ups received development assistance, and five SMEs were assisted with equipment that is environmentally friendly. Anatolie Peancovschi’s enterprise was one of them. 

“I received valuable training on how to improve my business and make it more eco-friendly,” recalls Anatolie. “I translated this knowledge into a business plan, which won the competition. I invested part of my €2,000 grant in purchasing a hydrocarbon separator. The separator retains petrol, fuel oil, oil, and lubricants before discharge into wastewater, ensuring the proper functioning of water treatment plants and preventing environmental damage—crucial for a car washing business. Additionally, I used some of the grant funds to modernize the equipment. Since 2023, our business volume has increased by 20 per cent, and it provides employment to four previously unemployed people from my village.” 

Recently, Anatolie entered an agreement with local public authorities to supply cleaned water for public works, including road construction. He is also in discussions with the local fire service to support them. This is all important given high risks of water scarcity in the future, resulting from climate change and frequent droughts in Moldova. 

Anatolie is living a big part of his dream now, but not all. He lives in his home country and has no plan to emigrate for work again. He runs his own business which also assists his community. But he misses his two sons, who followed their father’s path of emigration. Dan and Iulian are migrant workers in Switzerland now. They run their own business in the transport sector. 

“Iulian has always been in love with geography. As a child, he dreamed of becoming a geography teacher in the community school," says Anatolie. "I persuaded him to study economics instead. However, after graduating abroad, he switched universities and followed his true passion—studying geography. I am not happy with my sons living abroad. My wife and I miss our little granddaughter who was recently born. I set an example for them returning home. I see our future together, we could develop a family business, set up additional services related to car maintenance, reparation, etc.” 

Anatolie is very optimistic about the future. Recently, something happened that boosted his hope that Iulian and Dan will soon return to Moldova—they bought a big house in Grigorauca to settle in when they come back for good. The boys share their father's dream of starting a family business together. Iulian’s is also thinking about how to fulfil his dream of imparting his love for geography to local children.