Organizers


 
The Republic of Moldova

 

General information
Moldova lies in the southeastern part of the European continent. The country occupies the area of 33,76 thousand square kilometers and borders on Romania in the West and Ukraine in the East. Maximal distance from East to West in Moldova is 150 km, maximal distance from south to North is 350 km. The largest river is Nistru.

Time zone 
GMT +02.00

Population 
4 320 000 people

Capital 
Chisinau, 800 000 inhabitants

Form of government
parliamentary republic

Official language 
Moldavian. Russian is used widely as well. Employees of service and entertainment industry (hotels, restaurants, casinos, clubs) in large cities of Moldova master English, as well.

The foreign languages most frequently spoken in the country are English, French and German.

Climate
Climate of Moldova is temperate continental. Temperature span of January is –3C to –9C; that of July is +19C to +30C. Precipitation is 400-560 mm/year, mainly in spring and autumn. The best time for a visit is September and October. The period from May to August is quite pleasant, either, but autumn is the harvest time, so, in addition to fine weather, you can enjoy the natural abundance of Moldova .

Customs
Import of foreign currency is not limited. Export is permitted within the limits of imported amount. National currency may be imported and exported without any restrictions. Though, sums exceeding 5 000 USD limit are subject to compulsory declaring.

Money
Monetary unit of Moldova is Moldavian leu (plural - lei). 1 leu equals to 100 bans. There are banknotes of 1000, 500, 200, 100, 50, 20, 10, 5 and 1 leu. Coins in circulation are 50, 25, 10, 5 and 1 ban.

Exchange value of Moldavian lei against the US dollar is about 12-13 lei for a dollar and 16 lei for an euro.

American dollars and euro are in use too; you can pay with it, for example, in a restaurant or a taxi.

All the malls, supermarkets and shops accept the national currency only. However, most of them accept "Visa" and "Europay/Mastercard". As a rule, there are currency exchange offices and ATMs in large trade centers.

Transportation
Within Chisinau, transportation is performed by urban public transport: buses, trolley buses, jitneys or taxis. Fare in public transport makes up to 1- 2 - 3 lei.