In 2023, the Ministry of Defense allocated over 65 million lei for repairing the barracks of the anti-aircraft missile regiments in Dănceni village and in Căușeni town and the barracks of motorized infantry brigade No. 1 in Bălți, and also for restoring military camps and a military equipment and ammunition storage base. The costs for the first stage of the project to build a modern military unit in Băcioi village of the municipality of Chisinau amounted to 35 million lei, IPN reports.
RFE/RL’s Moldovan Service analyzed the acquisitions made by the Ministry of Defense last year and established that 7 million lei was allocated from the institution’s budget for landscaping and building municipal utilities. Over 18 million went to erect two shelters for keeping military equipment there. Another 10.2 million lei was used for securing the perimeter of the military camp, for exterior lighting and fencing.
The procurement tender contests were public and the contracts were awarded in July-October 2023 to P.V. Const-Service and Megatek Group. Megatek Grup SRL obtained the contract worth 18.3 million lei for the construction of shelters. The company undertook to carry out the works within four months. The other two contracts were won by P.V. Const-Service, which in July undertook to fence and illuminate the perimeter of the military camp within six months.
The data accessed by the Service on the MTender procurement platform coincide with the procurement plan for 2023, which was published by the Ministry of Defense. The modernization of the National Army and its equipping according to NATO standards were among the priorities announced by Anatolie Nosatyi when he took over as Minister of Defense in August 2021.
He explained that Moldova has an outdated military infrastructure, with almost 90% of weapons dating from the Soviet period. In December 2023, the government received an air defense system bought in France as part of an effort to modernize the armed forces amidst the war in Ukraine.
At the beginning of last year, Minister Nosatyi, in an interview with RFE/RL’s Moldovan Service, spoke about his plans to build a new military unit outside Chisinau. He explained then that some of the barracks or buildings where soldiers live or work date back to the 1990s and do not meet current standards.
