Half of Moldova’s population does not have sustainable access to water. The Government invests annually about 500-600 million lei in water and sewerage, but, in order to remedy the situation in this respect, at least 1 billion lei is needed every year, Minister of the Environment Gheorghe Salaru stated for IPN.

The minister said that about 100 projects related to water and sewerage were implemented in 2002-2009 at a cost of 96 million lei. In 2010-2013, there were implemented 300 projects with financing of 467 million lei.

Gheorghe Salaru said the new environment strategy for 2013-2023 envisions investments in providing the population with drinking water and access to sewerage, but there are also small settlements that do not need water pipelines, but rather wells and mini water treatment stations.

The Ministry of the Environment is now determining the final costs for supplying Moldova’s population with drinking water and ensuring access to sewerage. According to European studies, investments of about 400 euros per inhabitant are needed.