The European Investment Bank (EIB) will offer Moldova a loan of €120 million for implementing the project “Moldova’s Orchard”, which is aimed at modernizing and restructuring the sector of horticulture. The Government on August 26 approved the bill to ratify the financing agreement signed with the EIB on July 31, 2014.
The loan is repayable in 12 years at an interest rate of 0.75% a year, with a grace period of four years.
Minister of Agriculture and Food Industry Vasile Bumacov said the horticultural sector’s exports over the last 10 years rose 4.3 times and exceeded the growth rate of the total exports.
“About 300 economic entities working in horticulture, approximately 52,000 peasant farmsteads and a large number of companies working in the connected industry as well as the horticulture education and research institutions will benefit from the EIB funds,” said the minister.
The beneficiaries will receive financing through Moldovan banks at an interest rate of 5-6%. The money will be used to set up and modernize orchards and to purchase equipment for improving the efficiency of resources in production, processing, post-harvest and logistics.
Vasile Bumacov noted that this financing project is similar to the project to finance the winemaking and winegrowing sector for which the EIB provided earlier a loan of €75 million.
To date, the EIB has financed nine investment projects to the value of €282 million in such sectors as road infrastructure, wine industry, renovation of public transport in Chisinau, water supply and sewerage in a number of settlements as well as lending to SMEs.
