MOLDOVA: The government has approved the restructuring of national railway Calea Ferată din Moldova as an infrastructure manager, with train operations to be spun off into a new state-owned company to be called Pasageri și Marfă (Passengers & Freight).
As part of the vertical separation process annouced on February 4, CFM has launched a public consultation over the valuation of its assets. The assets of the operating company have been estimated at approximately 1·5bn lei, with a share capital of 869·4m lei.
The separation of infrastructure management from transport operations is intended to improve cost and revenue transparency and enable a more realistic assessment of economic performance. It is also expected to accelerate the decision-making processes, reduce pressure on the state budget and help attract greater investment.
It is hoped that the changes will enable a more targeted allocation of public funds to support socially important passenger services, bringing improvements to service quality and a more effective financial policy which should help to stabilise fares in the medium term.
CFM’s financial position has been precarious in recent years. The national recorded a profit of 62·1m lei in 2022, but by 2024 this had turned into a loss of 322·6m lei while its debts were growing.
