Moldova will harmonize Public-Private Partnership Law with EU laws to create more favorable conditions for investment
In particular, the legal framework for public-private partnerships will be improved and provide clearer rules. This is provided for by the relevant amendments to the Law on Public-Private Partnership, which the Parliament adopted in the first reading. The amendments were developed by the Ministry of Economic Development and Digitalization after the European Commission recommended harmonizing Moldovan legislation with EU legislation. The purpose of the law is to create a predictable legal framework adapted to the complex needs of public-private cooperation, as well as to provide additional guarantees to private investors and attract investment in strategic sectors. In this context, the authors proposed a number of amendments to the Law on Public-Private Partnerships. These include a clearer definition of the concept of public-private partnership (PPP) and the definition of clear characteristics of the PPP mechanism. The draft law also proposes some additional incompatibility measures. In particular, individuals and legal entities subject to international restrictive measures and their related persons will not be able to enter into PPPs. The same restrictions will apply to those who are not entitled to submit proposals under public procurement procedures because they do not meet certain legal conditions. The Law on Public-Private Partnerships will also be supplemented with criteria required for the approval of proposals for PPP projects. These include positive results of the feasibility study, an obligation to maintain public infrastructure in the ownership of the public partner after the completion of the project, and the contract term will be from 5 to 35 years with the possibility of its extension in exceptional cases on the basis of a separate law. Other amendments are proposed to improve access to financial resources, more clearly define the contributions of partners and facilitate the efficient use of public funds. Accordingly, it is proposed that investment financing be carried out not only in full by the private partner, but also jointly by the private and public partner. In this case, the private partner will be able to finance the investment both from its own resources and from attracted resources, and the public partner will have more opportunities to contribute to the project. The draft amendments to the Law on Public-Private Partnership will be submitted to Parliament for consideration in the second reading. //13.02.2025 — InfoMarket.
