Building a business at home: boosting youth entrepreneurship in northern Moldova

In Moldova’s far north, along the Ukrainian border, lie the districts of Dondușeni, Briceni, Ocnița, Soroca and Edineț. Distant from the capital and major industrial centres, they share similar traits: dispersed rural populations, high migration rates and weak entrepreneurial activity.

For many young people, their ambitions of launching businesses are dampened by poor access to funding information, burdensome bureaucracy and lack of local support. The Moldovan NGO ‘Inima Nordului’ (Heart of the North) is using support from the European Union provided through the Help (Hilfe zur Selbsthilfe) aid organisation to close this gap. By bringing entrepreneurial opportunities directly into these communities, it aims to empower local youth to earn an income and create lasting impact in their hometowns.

“Young people in the north aren’t passive or disinterested in entrepreneurship,”  says Daniela Bilic, head of ‘Inima Nordului’. “They just often lack confidence to apply, or fear tough competition. What they need is a reason to believe that someone will support and invest in them.”

Founded in 2020, as a grassroots NGO to boost economic opportunities for youth and vulnerable groups in northern Moldova, ‘Inima Nordului’ soon became a key player in supporting social entrepreneurship. In 2023, its EU-funded initiative aimed at supporting young social entrepreneurs reached over 600 young people across Dondușeni, Briceni, Ocnița, Soroca and Edineț – 90% of whom came from socially or financially vulnerable backgrounds. Through targeted trainings in business and financial management, mentoring and continuous support, selected participants gained the knowledge and confidence to pursue their entrepreneurial ideas. A total of 20 small businesses were supported, with grants ranging from €3,000 to €7,000, for a diverse range of projects  including beekeeping, dairy farming, a photo-video studio and even a VR-based educational service led by a young deaf entrepreneur. Many of these initiatives prioritise social impact, either being led by or directly supporting people with disabilities or from vulnerable backgrounds.

“We didn’t just give out funds. We built trust, taught responsibility and offered support that helped young people see themselves as solution-creators,” continues Daniela. “And they responded with incredible resilience and creativity.”

From maternity leave to a successful sewing business

Iulia Dudarev, a 34-year-old mother of two from Briceni, spent six years on maternity leave, relying on social benefits due to her diabetes. Yet, she had a lifelong passion: sewing. “I studied tailoring at a vocational school, inspired by a long family tradition of sewing. I began with making crib bumpers for my two kids, then costumes and dresses as they started kindergarten,” recalls Iulia. But without funding, her passion was limited to only meeting her family’s needs – until she discovered ‘Inima Nordului’. “Winning the grant was a turning point for doing what I love,” says Iulia.

She invested in professional sewing machines and opened her own workshop, where she now designs and repairs clothes and trains another young woman. “The NGO’s trainings helped me understand how to properly calculate expenses and set prices, so I stopped guessing my earnings and started pricing my work in a way that actually covers my real costs,” explains Iulia. As demand grows, she hopes to expand her workshop, hire more staff and turn her small business into a full production and showroom space.

Nurturing a family enterprise in woodcraft and beekeeping

In Edineț, mother of three Marina Pleșco and her husband merged two family traditions – carpentry and beekeeping – into a growing enterprise: “My husband comes from a family of beekeepers. My father and brother were both carpenters,” explained Marina.

After 15 years working in a supermarket, Marina decided to try to launch her own business and applied for support from ‘Inima Nordului’. The funding enabled the family to invest in professional equipment and expand their workshop. A new CNC milling machine improved the quality and range of their products – from terraces and doghouses to beehives and customised wooden trays – while saving time and effort.

The investment secured full-time employment for her husband but also gave Marina the confidence to seek further funding. “This was our first-ever grant application,” she says, “and Inima Nordului gave us both the confidence to believe we could do it.”

Driving change at home with a tire service

Despite an impressive academic background – six university degrees and solid work experience with international organisations – Călin Apostol decided to return to his hometown, Ocnița, to build something of his own.

“I wanted to create a job for myself, in my hometown and not depend on vacancies in Chișinău or Bălți,” he explains. With support from Inima Nordului, Călin turned his car maintenance idea into a successful local business. The funding enabled him to invest in high-quality Italian equipment for tyre vulcanisation and balancing, giving his workshop a competitive advantage over other local providers.

“I’ve also created a job for a young man from a socially vulnerable family – he’s the eldest of 13 siblings who now has a stable work,” Calin says.  Looking ahead, he plans to open a café above his car business, offering more local jobs and further contributing to the community’s development. “One small step at a time,” he says.

The Inima Nordului initiative is already making a tangible impact across the five target districts. Twenty new businesses are up and running, half of them generating jobs for vulnerable community members, including large families, young women and people with disabilities. But perhaps the most significant change is the renewed sense of hope and self-belief among young people here who now believe – that they don’t need to leave home to build meaningful futures. They can do it right where they are.