Moldova could benefit from full financing from US Millennium Challenge Corporation by next fall, MCC vice president says

Moldova may benefit from full funding from the US Millennium Challenge Corporation by next fall, John Hewko, the vice president of the corporation said on November 20. Hewko and Moldovan Prime-Minister Zinaida Greceanai have signed a memorandum on granting support in launching the Compact program, developed by Moldova, Info-Prim Neo reports. The total value of the grant is $11.9 million. The money is meant for carrying out feasibility researches for the investment projects included in the Compact program, presented to the US Millennium Challenge Corporation later last year. The projects deal with repairing roads – over 500 km – and switching to high performance agriculture, by building and rehabilitating irrigation plants, easing the access to loans for farmers. The estimative cost of the projects is some $300 million. Moldova became eligible to benefit from the full funding of Millennium Challenge on November 8, 2006. To benefit from the funding it shall successfully implement the Country Threshold Program, with a budget of $24.7 million. It provides for fighting corruption in a number of areas of the social and economic spheres, improving the business climate and drafting a Compact program jointly with the civil society, meant to reduce poverty and insuring sustainable economic growth. Premier Zinaida Grecianai says the researches to be carried out will allow for visible results on large scores of people. In John Hewko's view, these studies will yield more credible costs, disbursements, and will have a bigger impact on beneficiaries. They have highlighted that the financial support of the Compact program is a gift from heart to heart of the American people to the Moldovan people. “This program has been developed with the participation of entire society, pursues to build better life for people from Moldova and will be implemented, regardless of the team to come to rule after the elections of the next spring,” the Moldovan premier said. The Millennium Challenge Corporation started to work in 2004, following an initiative of the present US president and provides for granting financial assistance for the economic development of low-income countries. 18 countries benefit from such grants now, totaling $6.3 dollars.