This year’s BookFest will have on display over 30,000 books from more than 30 Moldovan and Romanian publishing houses. Authors who were unable to release their books before because of the pandemic are also expected at the event, said Elena Pintilei, director of the National Library, at a press conference dedicated to the annual book fair.

The National Library is involved in publication launches that will be organized during the fair. Elena Pintilei mentioned that the institution will also be responsible for managing the donations that will arrive on behalf of the publishing houses. “This year we will have a real festival of books and reading at Mediacor with authors both from Moldova and very good books published in Moldova and Romania”, said the director of the library.

Moldova is “an example to understand the impact of the measures to stimulate book consumption in two countries which, unfortunately, are on the last places in terms of book consumption in Europe, Romania being even the smallest book market per capita throughout the European Union”, said Mihai Mitrică, executive director of the Romanian Editors' Association.

Moldova’s Minister of Culture Sergiu Prodan, emphasized that state institutions must support both book publishing and cultural publications, as well as all mass media that want to dedicate a special column to culture. The minister mentioned the government’s initiative to offer young people who turn 18 a voucher of one thousand lei that they will be able to spend on quality cultural products, including book purchases. The project is expected to start in 2023.

The fifth edition of the BookFest Chisinau International Book Fair will take place from August 31 to September 4. The event is organized by the Ministries of Culture from Romania and the Republic of Moldova, in partnership with the Union of Publishers of the Republic of Moldova, the Association of Publishers of Romania, the State University of Moldova, the National Library of the Republic of Moldova.