A new wine bottling line started to be used at the Cricova wine company. It was built and installed with support from the Wine Sector Restructuring Program that is financed by the European Investment Bank (EIB). A sum of €75 million was allocated for the purpose, IPN reports.

According to a communiqué of the Government’s press service, EIB Vice-President responsible for lending operations in the eastern neighborhood Wilhelm Molterer and Minister of Agriculture Vasile Bumacov signed a statement of intent on the launch and implementation of a new project to support fruit producers to the value of €100 million, which is the contribution of the EIB. The money will be used to release loans in advantageous conditions.

“I hope that very soon we will witness the launch of a new investment line for the processing of agrifood products. The most important thing is that owing to these investments the competitiveness of the Moldovan products will grow,” said Prime Minister Iurie Leanca.

EIB President Werner Hoyer said this is a historical agreement that represents a commitment of the European Investment Bank for supporting the national agriculture within the Eastern Partnership. “Even if it’s a difficult period, Moldova continues to look for new markets to sell its excellent wines and no only,” he stated.

In the next few months, the EIB and the Ministry of Agriculture will work out a plan of action for putting the new initiative into practice.