The opposition and the government admit the importance of the financial assistance provided to the Republic of Moldova by the European Union. The representatives of the authorities said the sum of €60 million offered for overcoming the energy crisis will be used to subsidize the natural gas rates for the people and to invest in projects that bring value added to the economy. For its part, the opposition is dissatisfied with the large number of loans raised by Moldova as this further impoverishes the people, IPN reports.
The Eastern Partnership Summit that was held in Brussels was preceded by the signing by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Nicu Popescu and European Commission for Neighborhood and Enlargement Oliver Varhelyi of a €60 million financing agreement under which Moldova will get non-reimbursable assistance to solve its energy problems and to alleviate the socioeconomic impact following the rise in natural gas prices.
“We have €60 million in financial support for the gas crisis, another €60 million is invested in energy efficiency and another €150 million is invested in infrastructure. The Republic of Moldova lacks capital investments and it is very important to efficiently use this money,” Deputy Speaker Mihai Popșoi stated in the talk show “Moldova Live” on the public TV channel.
The opposition is dissatisfied with the pace at which the government borrows money from the development partners, noting these funds go on consumption, not on massive infrastructure or industrialization projects.
“A sum of €60 million is offered in grant assistance, but this money does not cover the amount allocated by the Government for capitalizing Energocom and the sum spent to buy natural gas from Poland through third firms at the price of US$1,000 per 1,000 cubic meters. The rest of the announced figures are loans. The Republic of Moldova already has a lot of loans and the foreign debt has grown considerably since 2009 until present. Nobody denies the importance of these visits, but we must talk about investments in agriculture, about the country’s industrialization so that we could develop the economy and secure the budget. These are nice political messages, but a lot is yet to be done to achieve something” said Deputy Speaker Vlad Batrîncea.
According to the Moldovan Government, the €60 million provided by the EU will be disbursed this year by one tranche. This budget support program supplements the EU’s €600 million Economic Recovery Plan for Moldova that is to be implemented during the next three years.
