Moldova intends to use most of the Romanian new 100 million euros grant for regional and local development.
At a briefing on Tuesday, Prime Minister of Moldova, Natalia Gavrilita, stated this while explaining the position of the government regarding the use of the 100 million euros grant, the agreement on which Moldova and Romania intend to sign at a joint meeting in Chisinau on February 11. She clarified that this meeting is a long-awaited event, planned to be held much earlier, but due to political and pandemic reasons, it is being held only now. “Among the decisions we will make are those related to the reduction and cancellation of roaming tariffs, which will save our citizens tens of millions of lei a year. We will sign agreements that will allow us to complete the repair of the Giurgiulesti-Galati Bridge and build new bridges, in particular in Ungheni, which will increase economic activity in the west of the country,” Moldovan Prime Minister said. She particularly focused on another decision that will have a direct impact on the well-being of people, noting that Romania will provide a grant of 100 million euros to Moldova, and these funds will be available in the coming years. Natalia Gavrilita reminded that this grant has a long history. Back in 2014, a similar decision to allocate a grant of 100 million euros to Moldova was made by the Romanian government. But over the past years, the Moldovan governments have been able to absorb only about 35 million of this amount. The allocation of the remaining part of the money was stopped due to the position of the previous governments of the Republic of Moldova. “One of the first actions of the new Moldovan government was to convince the Romanian side to reconsider the decision and restart this project so that we can access the money for the benefit of our citizens. We managed to convince our friends in Romania not only to resume the program, but also to restart it again, for the full amount of 100 million euros. This is an important contribution, which we are committed to use with maximum efficiency,” said Prime Minister of Moldova. She noted that the projects for which the money will go, the parties will agree later. “First of all, we want most of this amount to supplement the funds allocated to the Regional and Local Development Fund, established by the government a few months ago. This will mean Romania's consistent contribution to the development of the regions and villages of Moldova by financing many social and infrastructure projects. These are kindergartens, schools, sewerage, sewage treatment plants, street lighting and social entrepreneurship projects. The matter concerns the money that will reach the residents of the regions under the European Village program,” said Natalia Gavrilita. Prime Minister noted that tomorrow the Ministry of Infrastructure and Regional Development will hold consultations with the mayors of Moldova to determine the best way to submit documents and allocate funding for projects within the Regional and Local Development Fund. “We strive to ensure that the flow of projects is managed transparently, without the influence of political or ideological criteria. All settlements will have access to these funds, because the beneficiaries of the projects are the villagers, not the mayors,” she stressed. Natalia Gavrilita once again drew attention to the fact that the government's position is such that most of the money from the Romanian 100 million euros grant will be directed to the development of settlements and regions. "The remaining funds will be allocated for other areas, for cultural projects, such as investments in the National Theater, the Organ Hall and other cultural facilities, support for the media, as well as other projects to be determined during bilateral negotiations," Prime Minister of the Republic of Moldova said. // 08.02.2022 — InfoMarket
