CEB to loan about EUR 5 mln to Moldova for social dwellings

The Government will initiate negotiations with the Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB) regarding a loan worth EUR 4.9 mln for the partial funding of a project designed to build social dwellings in Moldova. The Bank’s Administrative Council approved the loan frame agreement draft on November 15, 2006, providing for a 20-year loan, with a grace period of 5 years. The project is intended for 380 units of additional dwellings for the Transnistrian refugees and socially underprivileged families. The total cost of the project is about EUR 7.6 mln. The Moldovan Government’s donation of EUR 2.7 mln represents an initial contribution to the unfinished blocks of flats and the cost of the land. According to the agreement’s provisions, the project will be implemented by the National Dwelling Service. The bill on dwellings, on which authorities rely to build social dwellings for underprivileged people, passed first reading in Parliament. Under the project, the construction of social dwellings will be performed by erecting new buildings and renovating some already existent ones. The constructions will be built using financial resources of the State and local budgets, as well as means of other investors. Certain categories of persons will enjoy the right to obtain a social dwelling. These number invalids of degree I, five- and more-child families, refugees from Transnistria, ex service-men in the armed conflict on Nistru River and others. At the same time, the abovementioned categories must match certain requirements – the monthly income for each member of family must not exceed the minimum subsistence level, to have a dwelling space under the minimum established norm, or a dwelling that does not meet sanitary requirements, live in hostels etc.