The European Commission will offer Moldova €9m worth of grants for responding to the COVID-19 crisis and for implementing the reforms undertaken by the Association Agreement with the EU, IPN reports.

The Parliament’s commission on foreign policy and European integration approved the initiation of negotiations and signing of the financing agreement between the Government and the European Commission for implementing the project “EU4Moldova: Facility to Support the Health Response to the COVID Crisis and Association Agreement Related Reforms”.

The agreement will consist of four components: health, financial sector, the rule of law, and the media.

€5 million will be allocated for strengthening the public health system’s capacity to efficiently fight the COVID-19 pandemic. €2 million will go to strengthen the supervisory capacity, corporate governance and risk management in the financial sector. By €1 million will be allocated for strengthening institutions and good governance, including the rule of law and security, and also for strengthening the independence and capacity of local media outlets to produce high quality content.