Thirty-three agricultural companies will receive grants to the total value of 5.3 million lei within the post-investment grants program “Sustainable Land Management” of the World Bank’s Moldova Agriculture Competitiveness Project, IPN reports.

According to a communique of the project, two rounds were held in 2014 to select applicants. The assessment commission accepted 33 applications for financing of the 42 submitted in the first round. The other 80 applications filed in the second round will be examined until this spring.

The 33 selected companies will be able to recoup up to 50% of the money invested in purchasing agricultural machinery for cultivating the land and growing plants in conservation regime. The grants will be disbursed by the Agency for Payments and Intervention in Agriculture in the immediate future.

The program is financed with money from the funds of the World Bank, the Government of Sweden and the Global Environment Facility. A grant cannot exceed US$20,000.

The program will be implemented until 2017. Within the first call, most of the farmers asked for the subsidization of the purchased agricultural machinery. In the future, priority will be given to farmers who implemented sustainable land management practices.