The $ 500 million loan that the Republic of Moldova could obtain from the Russian Federation, which was announced by Prime Minister Ion Chicu and President Igor Dodon, could increase the country's external debt by one third. The statement belongs to economic expert Veaceslav Negruța. According to him, the announcement regarding this credit generates a number of questions to which there is not yet a clear answer on the part of authorities, IPN reports.
Veaceslav Negruța states that currently the external debt of the Republic of Moldova is of 1.6 billion dollars. And with the eventual obtaining of the $ 500 million loan from Russia, the country can turn into an area with a very high degree of indebtedness.
According to the expert, the costs of this loan have already started to be incurred: “The announcement of this loan already creates suspense and reluctance on the part of our development partners who have invested a lot of trust in the Republic of Moldova. This could cost the Republic of Moldova an arm and a leg”, Veaceslav Negruța believes. The expert reminded about such a loan granted, years ago, by the Russian Federation to Ukraine and that, later, the former asked for the debt’s payment by requesting some Ukrainian territories which it actually annexed.
Veaceslav Negruța maintains that the statements made by the Government regarding this loan are unclear and raise several questions.
Political and economic commentator Victor Ciobanu argues that western financing, loans or grants, has a solid foudation, as they are conditioned by reforms, while eastern financing is unclear and it is not known whether these recently promised financial means will be invested precisely in infrastructure. According to him, there were other projects that were not implemented. "We had to deal with the laundromat on the part of Russia, and in the case of the billion theft also Russian banks were involved," said the commentator.
After his recent visit to Moscow, Prime Minister Ion Chicu has announced that it is possible to open a credit line from the Russian Federation in the amount of $ 500 million.