Balti
Bălți's 8,000-worker Soviet factories collapsed post-1991; now 1.3% of global cars use its wire harnesses—secondary succession in action.
Bălți illustrates secondary succession in industrial ecosystems—how new economic species colonize the infrastructure left by collapsed predecessors. From 1940 to 1989, Soviet planners grew this city's population fourfold, building the mammoth Răut factory (formerly 'Lenin') where 8,000 workers produced everything from telephone sets to submarine sonar equipment. Sugar refineries, flour mills, and fur processing plants made Bălți the manufacturing heart of northern Moldova.
The Soviet collapse devastated this industrial monoculture. Workers fled to Russia and Ukraine seeking jobs, and the manufacturing base 'severely suffered,' as local historians describe it. But the abandoned industrial infrastructure—trained labor force, factory buildings, rail connections—became the substrate for new growth. German automotive suppliers recognized that Bălți's existing manufacturing culture could produce wire harnesses at competitive costs. Today, 1.3% of all cars produced worldwide use Moldovan-made wiring systems, with €632 million in automotive exports representing 16% of Moldova's goods exports.
The EBRD is now modernizing district heating that serves 70% of residents—infrastructure originally built for Soviet-era industry now retrofitted for energy efficiency. Moldova's 2024-2028 National Program for Industrial Development positions Bălți as a beneficiary of EU nearshoring trends. The city that once made submarine sonar for the Soviet Navy now weaves the nervous systems of European automobiles. The factories changed, but the fundamental capability—precision manufacturing—persisted through the collapse.