EU4 Moldova: Key Regions is one of the most effective programs that our country has benefited from, stated Nicolae Dandiș, mayor of Cahul Municipality, during an IPN debate on Wednesday. According to the mayor, thanks to the financial support granted within the program, the municipality of Cahul benefited from consistent infrastructure modernization projects, and entrepreneurs from the south of the country accessed funds for business development.

Launched in 2019, the program aims to improve the living standards of citizens in two key regions: the municipalities of Ungheni and Cahul, plus the surrounding communities. With the program drawing to an end, the mayor of Cahul spoke about the multiple projects carried out within this program. According to the mayor, most of the funds were invested in infrastructure projects.

“At the launch of the program, a poll was conducted in Cahul, with online voting, in which we asked people which projects they see as priority to be supported. Citizens voted on a list of projects they would like this program to finance. The first thing selected was the modernization of the central park in Cahul, the Grigore Vieru Park. It was also decided to rehabilitate the square of the Nicolae Botgros Palace of Culture. Then it’s the renovation of the sports school, for which we had to identify part of the funding, because we are talking about a budget of over 4 million euros. We managed to cover the video surveillance part and the street lighting part. We asked the residents of Cahul what are the projects for which they want funding. We are now at the stage of completing the expansion of video surveillance. Also, we decided to modernize the market in Cahul, which is the last infrastructure project selected within the program and the works are to be completed soon”, said Mayor Nicolae Dandiș.

Also, the municipal authorities received financial support for the processes of making governance more efficient and improving the quality of public services.

“Infrastructure projects are important, but for the municipality, investments were also made in strategic documents. Investments were also made in the youth development strategy, a strategy and a smart platform were developed where, by chapters, the fields of public surveillance and public transport will be accessible. We also invested in strengthening capacities, transparency, in the anti-corruption plan. Cahul City Hall and Ungheni City Hall are the only two city halls in the country that have ISO certificates, which are certificates issued by international institutions. The services were audited, we built the modern one-stop shop, so that there is greater accessibility to public services”, explained the mayor of Cahul.

Creating jobs in key regions, attracting investments and developing entrepreneurship are also objectives of the “EU4 Moldova: Key Regions” program. Mayor Nicolae Dandiș says that thanks to this program dozens of entrepreneurs from the south of the country have benefited from financial support to launch or develop their businesses.

The debate was the sixth installment of the Benefits of EU Accession Series, run by IPN with the support of the Soros Moldova Foundation.