Moldova: The woman who set up a business in a rural area and created jobs for women, with EU support

Young entrepreneur Marina Andreev talks about the obstacles she faced and the grant that saved her.

She was very young when she stepped into the harsh world of business. With ambition, perseverance and hard work, she managed to open a uniform manufacturing company and created 15 jobs for 15 women from the village of Ustia, Dubasari district. This story is about Marina Andreev, the entrepreneur who, thanks to a grant from the European Union, proved that successful businesses can be set up in rural areas.

“It was after my last year of university when I received a grant from the European Union, enabling the business to open. I was super-young. I had zero experience. I created jobs for women mainly from the rural sector. At the time, there were no job opportunities in the village for women. With the help of the grant, I started a business. Without the grant, I don’t think I would be a businesswoman now and I wouldn’t have created this business. Maybe I would be living abroad somewhere with a regular job as many of my fellow citizens are,” says Marina Andreev.

The entrepreneur says that one of her greatest accomplishments is the fact that she managed to give women in the village of Ustia a chance to work at home, close to their family. Marina says that receiving the grant from the EU gave her more self-esteem:

“It was the momentum that helped me. Four years have passed now and we are still working and trying to develop. The first three years were the most difficult ones but they have passed. It wasn’t easy to get the grant. It was a contest of business plans. I wrote the business plan by myself. I think that the most important part was the idea and the number of jobs it would create. Compared to other projects, mine was one that created many jobs”.

Author: Irina Harea-Mardari

Published by Agora.md.

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