
The EBRD will provide Moldova with a new 100 million euros loan for the modernization and repair of roads near the border with Ukraine.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development announced this, noting that this loan will supplement the existing EBRD loan of 150 million euros approved in 2013 for road modernization in Moldova. As the EBRD stresses, Moldova is a gateway between the European Union in the west and the CIS in the east. The Pan-European Corridor IX, connecting Moscow, Kyiv and Bucharest, passes through Moldova via its capital Chisinau and connecting to the southern ports of the Black Sea and Istanbul, which provide access to the east to the Caucasus and Central Asia. Moldova was granted candidate status for EU accession in June of this year. The EBRD points out that to ensure sustainable economic growth despite Russia's war with Ukraine, it is vital that the country's road sector provide improved access to EU markets, as well as maintain access to its traditional markets in the CIS. While the war and sanctions imposed by the EU against Russia have severed these traditional trade links, Moldova's strategic position is essential to ensure transport and continuous trade flows from Ukraine to Romania, to the Danube River through Moldova's Giurgiulesti Port and to other EU countries. A 100 million euro EBRD loan for road rehabilitation between Soroca and Arionesti (46 km), and from Arionesti to the border with Ukraine at Otaci (9.5 km) will support government efforts to ensure standards that will promote economic growth, regional integration and trade. The EBRD is the leading institutional investor in Moldova. To date, the bank has invested over 1.8 billion euros in the country through 158 projects, with 57% of its portfolio in sustainable infrastructure. // 11.11.2022 - InfoMarket