Chisinau borrows €11.7 million from EBRD

The Chisinau City Hall will take out a loan of €11.7 million from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to fully repair six streets in the center of the capital city, Info-Prim Neo reports. The lending agreement was signed by Mayor of Chisinau Dorin Chirtoaca and EBRD President Thomas Mirow in Chisinau on December 2. The loan is repayable in ten years at an interest rate of 5%. The grace period is two years. The European Investment Bank is considering the possibility of providing an additional loan of €10.3 million for the same project. Dorin Chirtoaca said the municipality has many European partners, but the EBRD is one of the most reliable. This road repair project is more complex than the previous ones. There will be replaced the sidewalks, the underground piping system, the parking lots and the public lighting. Asked by the journalists how the municipality will repay the loan, the mayor said the project will help create a new infrastructure in Chisinau, according to European standards, and will enable to save budgetary money that goes on public lighting and to increase the budget revenues by collecting parking taxes at the parking lots that will be set up. EBRD President Thomas Mirow said the Bank wants to invest in the rehabilitation of roads and this project will have immediate beneficial effects on the residents of the city. The streets that will be filly repaired are: Stefan cel Mare, Constantin Negruzzi, Tighina, Vasile Alecsandri, 31 august and Alexandru cel Bun. Dorin Chirtoaca said these streets were selected by the EBRD experts who worked in Chisinau for several months. They were chosen out of 20 streets, taking into account the volume of traffic and the possible economic impact.