About 700 apartments will be constructed by 2018 and distributed to socially underprivileged groups. On June 16, the Government signed a lending agreement with the Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB) for implementing the second phase of the Project to Build Social Dwellings for Deprived Groups, Info-Prim Neo reports. Under the project, 15 apartment buildings will be erected in 12 settlements of the country: Sangerei, Glodeni, Basarabeasca, Chisinau, Briceni, Anenii Noi, Ceadir-Lunga, Calarasi, Hancesti, Sarata Noua (Leova), Falesti, and Drochia. The 700 apartments will be distributed to about 2,500 persons. The list will be drawn up based on criteria laid out by the CEB. The beneficiaries are mainly families of students with children, teachers, technicians, and medical workers who do not have sufficient incomes for purchasing dwellings. They will pay a rent of 200 to 400 lei a month. The total cost of the project is €20.4 million. The Bank will lend €13.4 million to Moldova. The difference of €7 million will be covered by the local public authorities. Under another agreement signed with the CEB the same day, Moldova will get a grant of €500,000 for a project to provide a production laboratory of the National Blood Transfusion Center with equipment and consumables. “Today we signed two agreements that represent a package of assistance on which the Government and the Bank have worked during the year. I’m glad that we are now at a stage at which we can implement these projects,” said Prime Minister Vlad Filat. “Today is a wonderful day as two very important agreements for Moldova and the Council of Europe Development Bank have been signed,” said the Bank’s governor Rolf Wenze.