The European Investment Bank (EIB) is lending €120 million to support SMEs and micro enterprises active in Moldova’s horticultural sector. The project, called “The Fruit Garden of Moldova,” will support activities in the entire food value chain, from the education of farmers through to harvesting and food production, IPN reports, quoting a press release of the EIB.

EIB Vice-President Wilhelm Molterer, Head of EU Delegation to Moldova Pirkka Tapiola and Prime Minister Iurie Leanca visited an apple orchard in Zaicana village of Criuleni distrait, where they had a meeting with fruit growers, potential beneficiaries of the Fruit Garden project.

“The EIB is providing a loan to a key sector of Moldova’s economy. These funds will help increase the living standards of Moldova’s citizens while at the same time allowing the country to benefit from the free trade area with the EU,” said EIB Vice-President Wilhelm Molterer.

Prime Minister of Moldova Iuri Leanca stated that the Moldovan farmers, fruit and vegetable growers, will greatly benefit from this opportunity. “Our country has always been recognized for its agriculture products, tasty fruits and vegetables of the highest quality. There is, however, a lot of potential to still achieve in modernizing our agriculture sector, increasing our production and export capacity, improve our farmers’ skills to not only produce but also sell their quality products. The Fruit Garden of Moldova is destined to be a successful project both for our economy and for EIB,” he stated.

Ambassador Pirkka Tapiola said the European Union has committed a financial support of €64 million to the ENPARD Program. According to him, the Fruit Garden project is a good synergy for the upcoming ENPARD and will lead to the implementation of the Agricultural Strategy and common development and assistance goals in this sector.

The borrower is Moldova’s Ministry of Finance, while the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry will be the promoter of the project. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, an innovation of the Fruit Garden project is that it will be accessible through leasing companies too. The opening of the leasing operations that, unlike the classical loan, do not require security, offers greater possibilities to young entrepreneurs.

Since 2007, when Moldova became eligible for EIB funds, the Bank has signed 13 projects in the country in the total amount of €586 million.