15 people inhabit the village at the Petresti railway station in the Ungheni district of Moldova. But that’s just official data. In reality, even less than that. The same situation is in Pavlovca, Briceni district, where live circa 20 residents. These villages are two of the many artificially created towns in the immediate vicinity of state institutions or state-owned enterprises, which were established during the Soviet times. People from all over the country would flock to villages like Petresti and Pavlovca to get a job and state provided housing.
26 years after the dissolution of USSR, only a few families and elderly people still live here, the youngsters leaving for better opportunities in the country or abroad. The institutions went bankrupt or are on the verge of closing. These people are what is left of them.
The project was carried out thanks to the assistance provided by the American people through the US Embassy in Chisinau. The opinions expressed do not necessarily represent the position of the embassy.
