The €45.3m of budget support assistance funds provided by the European Commission reached the budget of the Republic of Moldova. This amount corresponds to budget support disbursements under four programs: Economic Stimulation in Rural Areas (ESRA), European Neighbourhood Program for Agriculture and Rural Development (ENPARD), Public Finance Policy Reform, and Vocational Education Training. These payments are not related to new Budget Support programs, but are connected to existing programs that have been on-going since their signature before 2014, IPN reports, quoting the EU Delegation to Moldova.

To allow for this, the Government of the Republic of Moldova has met the conditions and achieved some of the results linked to these four budget support programs.

Moldova has made significant progress in the implementation of stability-oriented macro-economic policy and in the way it is managing its public finances and preparing in a more transparent manner its budget. This progress was also important for allowing budget support disbursements. Moldova has also met some of the sector reforms stipulated in the mutually binding budget support Agreements with the EU.

The amounts finally disbursed do not correspond to the full amounts requested by the Moldovan authorities. The decision to make partial a payment of €45.3 million out of €50 million (eligible) reflects a partial achievement on the Specific Conditions set in the budget support programmes.

The European Union remains committed to supporting the Republic of Moldova in its reform efforts, but expects tangible results. The reforms adopted by the Republic of Moldova in recent months should give impetus to continued, reinforced and irreversible reform efforts.