The COVID-19 pandemic is considered one of the main threats to Moldova’s security. It left about 11,000 Moldovans in the country without a job according to official statistics. Following the spread of the novel coronavirus, whole sectors of the economy ceased operation, such as the recreation sector, exhibition activity… In many spheres, they work at half or one third of the capacity. Most of the employees of inactive enterprises or enterprises that partially reduced activity simply didn’t go to employment agencies for being registered as unemployed. So, the real jobless figures determined by the invasion of the novel coronavirus are much higher. Economists and analysts consider these indicators rose by 40-50% in the last six months.
The Government promised to present the figures of the pandemic’s negative impact on the economy closer to the yearend, but it is already clear that these would not add a dose of optimism. The Cabinet hasn’t yet provided an anti-crisis action plan. There are separate, sporadic solutions, but these have nothing to do with a consistent plan of action for reducing the effects of the pandemic on the Moldovan economy in the short, medium and long runs.
What will happen to Moldova now? This is a question that is probably put only by our country’s foreign partners. The European Union even allocated €87 million in special funds for helping the Republic of Moldova recover in the post-pandemic period without taking into account the money that already comes and will yet enter our country as macro-financial assistance from the EU, which is another €100 million. The total is €187 million.
This is for the future, but there is also the present...
Emergency response partner
The European Union set the objective of helping Moldova take the health crisis under control immediately after COVID-19 reached the country. Emergency assistance measures were designed not only for our country, but for all the Eastern Partnership countries. The package approach is the EU’s work style. These actions were also part of the EU’s broad Solidarity for Health Initiative.
The EU thought up the method of supporting the neighbors together with the World Health Organizations and the UN agencies, which purchased and supplied individual protective equipment, medical devices and consumables, while the EU allocated financing.
Overall, the EU offered €144 million in emergency assistance to the EaP countries: €30 million for buying medical supplies and equipment, €11 million for supporting NGOs that help children, elderly people, persons with disabilities and other vulnerable groups of people, €100 million for supporting SMEs.
Moldova received the first such consignment on July 14 – 1.5 million units of medical equipment intended for medical institutions of different levels. The second came at the start of August and was distributed to medical institutions in Transnistria. The EU watches over so that all the Moldovan regions get assistance. The third batch entered recently, on September 4.
It’s the case to help everyone
The concrete social support is one of the EU’s strong points. This is also felt within the emergency assistance for Moldova in the fight against the novel coronavirus. The EU offers individual protective and medical equipment to temporary placement centers, institutions for persons with disabilities, special schools. The state does not offer sufficient attention to these institutions during better times, not to mention the periods of crisis.
The EU endeavors to offer assistance to everyone and in this effort it is assisted by NGOs. For example, owing to the EU grants, the home medical assistance center Casmed of Bălți and the public association “Positive Initiative” that supports HIV-infected persons could work continuously.
There were also taken into account persons who cannot endure the psychological pressure generated by the health crisis. To combat domestic violence, €155,000 was directed to 70 localities.
Entrepreneurs weren’t forgotten
Practically from the beginning, the European Union started to help the small and medium-sized enterprises to overcome the consequences of the crisis and to adjust themselves to the new realities. At the start of summer already, there was announced a contest of grants in the framework of the project “Promotion of Export Opportunities on Both Sides of the Nistru”. Later, free support started to be provided to rural entrepreneurs through the LEADER national network.
Surely, there were staged a series of master-classes on how the activity should be reorganized in the new conditions, how deliveries can be arranged, how export opportunities can be kept and new markets can be conquered. The importance of such assistance for Moldovan entrepreneurs is seen in the number of participants in the master-class – over 500.
At the end of July, an additional credit line EU4Business-EBRD in the amount of €5 million started to work. “The economic success of Moldova primarily depends on the successes of the small and medium-sized enterprises. But the access to financial resources remains a major obstacle to their development, especially in difficult times,” said the EU Ambassador to Moldova Peter Michalko. He voiced hope that the additional possibility of obtaining loans, subsidies and technical assistance through the agency of one of the EU instruments will contribute to alleviating the effects of the health crisis on the SMEs.
The further, the more
Now about the €187 million intended for the future. This money is designed exclusively for Moldova and does not form part of group packages.
As Peter Michalko explained in a recent interview, the assistance package of €87 million consists of two parts. The first part includes funds from other EU projects in Moldova, redirected for overcoming the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. When the pandemics affected our country, 105 EU projects were under implementation here. So, the weight of this component is rather substantial.
The second part is intended exclusively as support for SMEs. According to the Head of the EU Delegation, the EU’s partners in Moldova already assess the pandemic’s consequences for this sector of the economy and identify the vulnerable points and real necessities for the European assistance to be used for the maximum benefit of the Moldovan entrepreneurs.
€100 million is the macro-financial assistance that the Government of Moldova will receive as part of the emergency assistance program to fight COVID-19. Half of this sum will be disbursed to Moldova without special conditions, while the rest will come if the state continues to efficiently implement the reforms stipulated in the Association Agreement. “Surely, these reforms are necessary as Moldova must be ready for the post-pandemic situation. The reforms cannot stop,” stated Peter Michalko.
As the partners are also our neighbors
The European Union has been near Moldova since the first day of the health crisis. In spring, assistance came directly from EU member states. Protective equipment was donated to healthcare workers, the border police, customs officers, even if the EU states were themselves seriously struck by the pandemic and they had to put up resistance to the pandemic the first.
The companies with European capital and the banks operating in Moldova also provided assistance. They bought masks, gloves, protective suits, disinfectants and offered free access to the Internet and communications, foods products and gasoline to doctors. The European Business Association alone collected 25 million lei for supporting the health facilities.
It’s almost impossible to determine the exact sum of the assistance offered by the EU during the last six months as this was received through a number of channels. But the figures are not so relevant when it goes to a mission. The EU helped us not only to overcome the difficulties. It tried to maintain our country’s development potential. It may seem paradoxical, but the EU believes in Moldova more than many of the residents of this country, including politicians, and therefore invests in its future.
Natalia Uzun, IPN
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This material is produced in the framework of the information campaign “EU-Moldova: Stronger Together”, carried out by the project “Strategic communication and support for mass-media in the Republic of Moldova”, funded by the European Union. The content of the material belongs to the authors and does not necessarily represent the EU’s vision.
