Moldova has worked out Compact country proposal

Moldova has completed the formulation of the Compact country proposal and will submit it to the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) by end-February, Info-Prim Neo reports. Before negotiation and signing, the country proposal will be inspected and polished by the MCC. The country proposal includes four projects that concern the rehabilitation of roads, the enhancement of the energy sector’s efficiency, the shift to modern agriculture and the development of primary medical assistance in rural areas. The program is estimated at about 518 million USD. The road rehabilitation project envisages the repair of five national roads with a total length of about 545 km, including Balti-Criva, Chisinau-Dubasari-Goieni that borders on Ukraine, Comrat-Giurgiulesti, Chisinau-Gura-Bicului-Tiraspol that borders on Ukraine, and Sarateni-Soroca-Unguri. The major objective of the energy-related project is to improve the efficiency of the energy sector by regenerating and extending the capacities of the thermoelectric plant “CET Nord”. The changeover to modern agriculture implies the repair of 26 centralised irrigation systems and the creation of points for packing agricultural products etc. Also, building certain primary medical assistance centres in rural areas will be restored and outfitted with modern medical equipment. Moldova became eligible to apply for Compact assistance in November 2006. The Compact assistance will be provided as non-reimbursable investments in areas that play an important role in accelerating economic growth.