CFM employees return after five months of technical unemployment
Employees of the enterprise "Calea Ferată din Moldova" (CFM) returned to work on May 4 after being on technical unemployment for five months. This situation affected 600 workers, who were not employed during this period and received only half of their salaries. The general director of the enterprise, Serghei Cotelnic, informed Moldova 1 that all outstanding salary payments have been cleared, totalling 260 million lei.
Approximately 3,500 people are employed at CFM, a strategic enterprise in the Republic of Moldova that has been experiencing a severe economic crisis in recent years.
To help stabilize the company, the Government approved a reorganization plan that involves dividing CFM into two separate entities: one for passenger and cargo transport and another focused on infrastructure.
CFM's financial troubles began in 2009, when freight transport volume dropped by more than half. The decline continued in 2016, and the situation worsened in 2022 when rail transit from Ukraine was significantly reduced due to the closure of the Odessa port.
These changes resulted in decreased revenues for CFM, leading to increasing delays in employee salary payments. Last year, salary arrears exceeded 200 million lei. Currently, the company is experiencing salary arrears of 50 million lei, and although it is March, workers are still receiving their December salaries.
In an effort to ease the financial burden and make partial salary payments, CFM auctioned off old wagons and spare parts last year. Additionally, in 2025, the company underwent a reorganization process, resulting in the layoff of over 2,000 employees.
