The United States provides $50 million of additional economic and development assistance to Moldova to bolster its resilience to the long-term economic consequences of the war in Ukraine. This additional assistance follows the $50 million announced by U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield and the $30 million announced by U.S. Ambassador in Chisinau Kent Logsdon, IPN reports.
Following a meeting with President Maia Sandu, USAID Administrator Samantha Power announced the additional economic and development assistance for Moldova in a press briefing.
Noting that the Moldovans have made common cause with the Ukrainians since the first day of the war, Maia Sandu reminded that tens of thousands of people – volunteers, police officers, public functionaries, doctors, mayors, businesspeople and ordinary people – mobilized to help the Ukrainian refugees. “Today, Moldova hosts 96,000 refugees from the neighboring country and half of them are children. Over 80,000 were housed by our citizens in their homes. It is a large number of us. Our population during these six weeks grew by almost 4%. We need assistance,” stated the official.
She noted that the situation is worsened by the rise in the prices of fuels and energy resources and by the interruption of imports from and exports to the Eastern markets. “But we also want to continue our plans to improve things in the Republic of Moldova. Despite all the difficulties and crises, we aim to build a competitive, innovative and resilient country,” said President Sandu.
For her part, Samantha Power expressed her gratitude for Moldova’s generosity in welcoming Ukrainian refugees and reaffirmed the United States commitment to supporting Moldova’s economic and development goals.
“The Moldovan government and the people of Moldova have demonstrated extraordinary generosity and leadership in responding to the refugee crisis from the war in Ukraine, receiving the most refugees from Ukraine per capita. We know that Putin’s war struck not only Ukraine, but also Moldova, blocking Eastern markets, hampering the supply of energy to the country. This assistance will support Moldova’s agriculture, textile industry, the IT sector, the fight against corruption, the national mass media’s fight against the flow of propaganda and disinformation, energy systems and infrastructure,” stated Administrator Power.
