Fugitive pro-Kremlin oligarch Ilan Shor says he is shutting down his “social projects” in Moldova and withdrawing support for MPs

Pro-Kremlin fugitive oligarch Ilan Shor has announced that he is shutting down his “social projects” in Moldova and ending support for his allied MPs. In a statement, Shor claimed he was being forced to take the step by the current government, including by President Maia Sandu personally. Analysts say the change in Shor’s activities may signal a shift in the Kremlin’s strategy for exerting influence in Moldova.

The “social projects” in question refer to various so-called “social payments” funded by Shor and structures linked to him, including the ȘOR Party and affiliated foundations. They included pension supplements in certain regions, along with food packages.

In his video address, which was published on Telegram, Shor said that the decision had been prompted by the freezing of his accounts inside Moldova and the arrests of his supporters. “The funds we transfer are completely blocked, our employees are arrested — you see and know all of this... In just the past six months, Sandu has blocked and simply stolen 50 million dollars that I allocated to support the people of Moldova,” he claimed.

Ștefan Bejan, an analyst with the WatchDog think tank, said the statement shows Shor has lost Kremlin support.

“Russia is removing him from the scheme because the 2024–2025 elections were a failure for the Russian Federation, and one of the reasons is Ilan Shor. Russia is likely changing its approach, opting for a softer tactic by engaging more respectable ‘pro-European’ politicians than Shor,” t8.md quoted Bejan as saying.

WatchDog president Valeriu Pașa also sees the shutdown of the “social projects” as a sign that the Kremlin’s tactics in Moldova are shifting.

“They are simply cutting off the cash flow used to buy votes. Meanwhile, Kremlin propaganda projects appear to be receiving even more money… All Russian investment will now go into propaganda and proxy parties,” Pașa said.

Two lawmakers from president Sandu’s PAS party, lawmakers Adrian Băluțel and Doina Gherman, wrote on Facebook that Shor’s move is a clear sign that the oligarch’s influence in the country has declined significantly.

“They never planned to invest in genuine economic development and social projects, but only to destabilize Moldova and bring chaos and violence. They failed — our people did not sell themselves for dirty money stolen from us, they did not allow themselves to be deceived by false promises, and the state institutions maintained order and peace,” Gherman wrote.

In June 2017, Ilan Shor was sentenced by a court in Chișinău to seven years and six months in prison for his role in the theft of approximately one billion dollars from Moldova’s banking system. In February 2019, while on house arrest as his case was being appealed, Shor was elected to parliament. A few months later, he fled to Israel. Shor was granted a Russian passport in May 2024.