The Development Bank of the Council of Europe will provide a loan of 20 million euros for the implementation in Moldova of the 3rd stage of the Social Housing Construction Project.
This was announced by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Regional Development, noting that at the same time the Council of Europe Development Bank will provide a grant of 1 million euros from the Green Social Investment Fund, as well as a grant of 6 million euros from the E5P Fund for energy efficiency measures. The total cost of the project will be 34 million euros. The project will build 455 social housing units in 12 localities in Moldova, which will provide housing for approximately 1,600 beneficiaries. In addition, renovation/modernization of student dormitories in 4 locations will be carried out, which will provide more comfortable housing conditions for about 750 beneficiaries. It is also planned to build nursing homes in 16 settlements for 750 beneficiaries. The Ministry of Infrastructure and Regional Development said it supported the initiation of a new phase of the project, which provides for the provision of social housing for various preferential categories, the construction and renovation of nursing homes and student dormitories, with the replacement of the entire shell of buildings in order to reduce heating costs by applying the concept of energy efficiency for buildings. It is emphasized that the key aspect is cooperation with local public administration authorities for proper housing management and centralized accounting of both built housing and the flow of beneficiaries. To this end, an assessment will be made of existing and disused public buildings across the country to see if they can be redeveloped and converted into social housing or refurbished and extended to offer, as needed, low-income families, young families, professionals contributing to development of local communities. The contribution of the local authorities involved in the project will be about 7 million euros, it will include existing unfinished or abandoned buildings, land and technical documentation of the project. The goals of the social housing construction project are: to support people with low incomes in providing housing; support for the elderly and disabled by providing them with places in specialized shelters; providing students with places in modernized hostels; attract civil servants from the public sector of Moldova and reduce staff turnover among civil servants in rural areas by providing them with housing at the place of work; improving the quality of life of socially unprotected segments of the population; development of regions by attracting and retaining civil servants in small towns and rural areas of Moldova; improving the energy efficiency of public buildings, which will lead to reduced environmental pollution and lower costs. The project also aims to attract and retain specialists in the field of education, health, social protection and public administration in rural areas in order to ensure the continuous provision of such services and thus contribute to improving the quality of life of citizens.//23.03.2023 — InfoMarket.
