The EBRD will provide Moldova with a 23 million euros loan and the European Commission with a 20 million euros grant for the rehabilitation of the North-South railway corridor from Valcinet to Cainari.
The corresponding loan and grant agreements were signed on June 27 in Chisinau. In particular, the Minister of Infrastructure and Regional Development Lilia Dabija and Angela Sax, head of EBRD Office in Moldova signed a loan agreement between Moldova and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in the amount of 23 million euros. The agreement on grant from the European Commission, which will supplement loan proceeds, has been signed by Minister Lilia Dabija, head of EBRD office and Oleg Tofilat, director of state railroad company Railways of Moldova. The grant was allocated within the European initiative Solidarity Lanes, focused on simplification of export-import transportation for Ukraine. The funds will be used to repair and modernize the North-South railroad corridor: Valcinet - Ocnita - Balti - Ungheni - Chisinau - Cainari. The implementation of the project will increase the safety level of railway traffic, increase the speed of passenger and freight trains, as well as reduce the turnaround time of trains. Minister Lilia Dabija said that the first 12 million euros tranche of the EBRD loan will be transmitted immediately after the signing of the agreement, and the second part of 11 million euros will be requested as necessary in the course of the works. At the same time, the minister said that the authorities are also negotiating with the European Investment Bank (EIB) to provide a grant of more than 10 million euros and a loan of 10 million euros, which will allow rehabilitating 128 kilometers of the named section of the railroad. She also said that another railway infrastructure project has been initiated, which aims to rehabilitate the Bender - Causeni - Basarabeasca - Etulia - Giurgiulesti section. The EBRD, EIB and EU have allocated more than 107 million euros for the works, and the project will be completed in 2025. "We propose that by 2025 the rehabilitation works of 128 km of the railroad, for which we have received funding today, as well as 233 km that are already in the evaluation process, will be completed. In total, this is a section of more than 361 km, rehabilitated with the support of the EBRD, the EIB and the European Commission", said Lilia Dabija. //27.06.2023 - InfoMarket.
