Government has planned projects worth $800 mln out of $1.2 bln promised by donors

The Government has planned projects worth $800 million of the $1.2 billion promised by the foreign donors to Moldova. According to a communiqué released by the Government on Monday, the funds are planned for projects in areas of major importance, such as education, private sector development, infrastructure development, health care, agriculture, and others. The authorities say standard pre-launch procedures have to be completed before the projects actually start. Prime Minister Vasile Tarlev recently stated that the foreign donors have appreciated the capacity of the Moldovan Government to absorb the sum of $1.2 billion, making reference to a letter from the donors addressed to the Government. Speaking about the remaining sum, the prime minister said the Government was negotiation their destination with the development partners. Independent experts have warned in May that Moldova risks failing this year to fund projects from the promised money, because of the incapacity of the key-ministries. Political analyst Igor Munteanu claimed that “despite of making a parade of these funds, the Government hasn’t been given any money so far, because it did not present and was not able to present projects that would convince European donors to finance projects in Moldova”. He mentioned about a ‘biological cycle’ of the projects: if they are not presented until mid-year, nobody will see the funds coming this year. The sum of USD 1.2 bln is larger than the overall volume of financial assistance provided to Moldova by international donors in the last ten years. The EU, international financial organisations, including the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, as well as other foreign donors decided to provide financial assistance to Moldova on December 12, in Brussels at the Consultative Group Meeting of Donors for Moldova.