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A successful business ensures a future for the community Republic of Moldova - Valentina Colesnic lives in the village of Zgurita in the northern part of the Republic of Moldova. She worked as a nurse in the local hospital until the collapse of the Soviet system. In 1989 she turned to farming, encouraging three doctors’ families to rent eight hectares of arable land. Together they cultivated vegetables on the plot, with excellent results, but they were forced to stop when they were no longer able to continue renting the land. With the help of her husband and son, Valentina then set up a company called Pirvencol Ltd and began to travel to Russia, Ukraine and Belarus exporting vegetables. At first, she dealt exclusively with the collection and marketing of agricultural products. As she travelled she became familiar with the development of production sectors in neighbouring countries and through observation learned a great deal about how to run a business. Valentina studied the local markets and came to the conclusion that the best project would be to open a centre for the processing of agricultural products such as wheat and other grains, and provide a broad range of processing services to clients. Implementing such a big project required a large investment. First she bought a dilapidated old building from the municipality. She had the building repaired and equipped to bring it into line with hygiene standards for food processing. Then she applied for a licence to process foodstuffs on the premises. When Valentina found out about the IFAD-financed Rural Finance and Small Enterprise Development Project (RFSEDP) through the bank, she obtained help from the project in developing a business plan and was able to purchase and install equipment with part of a loan of US$37,000. Pirvencol Ltd is a relatively new enterprise that has developed rapidly in recent years thanks to Valentina’s good management skills and the financing opportunities she has been able to take advantage of. The high quality and wide range of its processing services have attracted many customers in the area, and the company has registered constant economic growth. Valentina employs 31 people, 15 of them women. More recently, Valentina has bought and installed a line for wool processing and production of various wool products such as carpets. Valentina Colesnic has proved that women in Moldova can also run successful businesses. The business supports the village and the village contributes to making the business sustainable. Valentina feels strongly about contributing as a local business to community development and thereby investing in a future for the young people of the village. In this respect she has set an important example. The company donates its food products to the local kindergarten and has contributed to building a children’s playground in the village and renovating the public library.Source: IFAD |
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