The pandemic determined the spouses Alexandru and Rosina Caranfil to revise their plans and, after almost ten years in Italy, to return home for good.  With the help of a European grant, in May 2021 Caranfil family launched the first mobile tire repair shop in Cahul. The van is provided with a generator, compressor, grinder, a set of tools and accessories for a mobile tire repair shop. It operates everyday 24/24 and represents a new service for the south of the country. The investment in the fresh business amounted to €4400 and generated a new job.

A non-stop working mobile tire repair shop

A mobile tire repair shop working 24/7 and provided with everything necessary to promptly fix the technical failures was the business idea of Caranfil family, and it came to life thanks to the grant offered within the “EU4Moldova: Focal regions” Programme, implemented by UNDP.

The call for grants offered to the entrepreneurs from Cahul was right in time for Alexandru and Rosina Caranfil, who already had a business in the sphere of transports and were looking for development opportunities.

“We have heavy trucks. Often, we were in the situation when a tire was damaged and we had to come to the tire repair shop and we were losing a lot of time because of this,” notes Alexandru. To avoid such unpleasant situations and to help other people to repair their own cars, they thought of a mobile tire repair shop. First, it will help them repair their own vehicles and secondly, they will provide the same services to all those who need them.

“Launching a mobile tire repair shop was an idea that matured in time, and I am glad that we managed to launch it with the support of the European Union. These grants motivate the entrepreneurs to develop businesses at home and not to have to go abroad,” says Rosina.

Although it is mobile, the tire repair shop is located in Zîrnești, a village close to Cahul city. The van is provided with a generator, compressor, grinder, set of instruments and accessories for a mobile tire repair shop. “We go there, where they ask us to, this is a great advantage,” explains Alexandru. For now, one operator works at the novel tire repair shop and, in the future, if the number of calls increases, one more person will be employed.  

Alexandru says that until now they had orders to Cahul and to the surrounding villages, to Cantemir, Leova and Taraclia. “Every week we have three orders in the average, but in the cold season of the year I anticipate that the number of orders will increase. Moreover, we stated to render a new service – mobile welding.”

Alexandru and Rosina have created a Facebook page to promote their business. “Many people know us already, but there is place for growth, gradually other clients will also know about us,” thinks Rosina.  

The investment in the business was of €4400 from EU, and 30 percent of the amount was the contribution of Caranfil family. So, they bought the corresponding equipment to have their van adapted for rendering tire repair services.

Caranfil family has lived in two countries for ten years  

Alexandru and Rosina have lived in two countries for more than two years, but the pandemic of 2020 inclined finally the balance towards coming back to the Republic of Moldova.

They were in love with Italy yet in 2011, when they went to Venice for a holiday and decided to remain there, for a longer period. “We’ve never wanted to leave for good, we love our country. My husband was a director at a hotel network in Italy, he got very good results. But the work in Venice is seasonal, this is why in summer we were living in Italy, and in winter – in the Republic of Moldova. Still, during the pandemic we decided that it would be good to develop what we already have at home,” notes Rosina.

At the end of September 2021, Alexandru returned to Moldova for good, as he was convinced that changes for the better are happening. “It is better to be a business owner at home than an employee abroad. We hope to grow as well, along with the investments made in the Republic of Moldova, we hope there will be a favorable environment for businesses and for a transparent business.”

Thus, after many years spent abroad, Alexandru and Rosina Caranfil decided to stay and become entrepreneurs in the Republic of Moldova. They work and develop their business, thinking of new idea, which will allow them to prosper: “In the future we would like to expand our activity and to open a modern car wash,” tells Rosina.

About the grants offered to the Local Action Groups: Four Local Action Groups in the regions of Cahul and Ungheni have benefited from grants in the amount of €50,000 each, offered with the financial support of the European Union. The Local Action Groups (LAG) “Lunca Prutului de Jos”, “Cişmeaua Sudului”, “Valea Halmagei” and “Movila Măgura” were selected during a call for grants launched in 2020 by the EU4Moldova: Focal regions Programme. A total of 47 development micro projects are performed in the rural communities of both focal regions. Initiatives to promote sustainable rural tourism, to provide kindergartens with smart equipment, to renovate the parks and public transport waiting stations to facilitate community mobility; support for the existing businesses – provision with modern equipment of the furniture-making factories, bakeries, beekeeping enterprises or dairy products enterprises – are launched in the villages of Cahul and Ungheni regions with the financial support of the European Union. The new projects will create at least 30 new jobs in the 4 LAGs.

About the EU4Moldova: focal regions programme: it supports intelligent, inclusive, and sustainable social economic development in the regions of Cahul and Ungheni to ensure to the citizens a better quality of life, the Programme (2019-2024) has a total budget of €23 million, it is funded by the European Union and implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).