The Republic of Moldova will raise a €120 million loan from the French Development Agency in preferential conditions. The money will go to do reforms in the energy sector. The first tranche of €40 million will be disbursed towards the end of this year. Furthermore, Moldova will get €5 million in grant funding from the European Union. This is provided in the Memorandum of Understanding for reforming the energy sector which was signed today by the French Development Agency and four ministries of Moldova, IPN reports.
“Our priorities on the energy dimension include accelerated decarbonization, which means primarily investments in the energy efficiency of building, electrification of transport and switchover to electric transport and better capacity to integrate the renewable energy into the network. We will make effort to use the financing we will receive from the French Development Agency for these priorities,” stated Minister of Energy Victor Parlicov.
The memorandum envisions the acceleration of Moldova’s integration into the EU in the energy sector. “We undertook to accelerate the work we already planned on the European integration dimension, including as regards particular infrastructure projects, building of lines and particular policy documents, approval of national energy and climate plans, approval of the long-term energy strategy, outlook. All these things form part of the preconditions we need to fulfill to be eligible for this financing,” noted the minister.
France’s Ambassador to Moldova Graham Paul said that energy is a strategic subject for the Republic of Moldova. That’s why France offers multiform assistance for this sector through investment projects and other contributions so as to reduce energy vulnerability and to concretely support the undertaken reforms. “Even if important progress has been made the past few months, a lot is yet to be done to enhance energy resilience and security and to meet the European norms and standards so as to efficiently fight global warming and ensure energy efficiency,” stated the diplomat.
Philippe Orliange, executive director of the French Development Agency, said the first tranche of €40 million of the concessional loan will be disbursed towards the end of 2023. Also, the European Union will provide technical assistance that will be implemented by the Agency to strengthen the capacities of Moldova’s ministries and public institutions on the path of reforms with an impact on Moldova’s population.
Magdalena Mueller-Uri, Head of the Operations Section of the EU Delegation to Moldova, said the European Union supports the initiative by financing technical assistance in the amount of €5 million. The project will strengthen the capacities of the involved ministries so as to make progress in doing reforms in the field of energy transition.
The Memorandum of Understanding for reforming the energy sector was signed between the French Development Agency and the Ministry of Energy, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Environment, and the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection.
