Bălţi ( Romanian : Bălţi , Russian : Бельцы , Ukrainian : Бєльці ) is a city in Moldova . It is the second largest in terms of area and economic importance (after Chişinău ), and the third largest city in terms of populationan (after Chişinău and Tiraspol ). It is one of the five Moldovan localities having the status of municipalities . Bălţi, sometimes also called "the northen capital", is the major industrial, cultural, commercial centre and transportation hub in the north of Moldova . The city is situated 127 km north of the capital Chişinău , and is located on the river Răut , a tributary of Dniester , on a hilly landscape in the middle of the Bălţi depression of the North-Moldavian uplands .