Volume of EU's assistance has always depended on Moldova's absorption capacity, Dirk Schuebel

The volume of the financial assistance offered by the European Union has always depended mainly on the absorption capacity of the institutions of the Republic of Moldova, EU Delegation Head Dirk Schuebel stated in an interview with Info-Prim Neo. “I think we have achieved considerable progress in this respect over the last few years. The characteristic features of the help in the current period are that we have shifted since 2007 to the so-called budgetary support, which implies we have a lot of confidence in the Government of the Republic of Moldova. For the time being, we have launched three big budget support program – for the social sector, for the area of health, and the area of water and water supply. And this year's budget support will be provided to the sector of rural development. We support these sectors because we think there is enough absorption capacity, since national strategies exist for developing these sectors”. Speaking about Moldova's absorption capacity, Dirk Schuebel said the situation is similar to other countries in the region. “I don’t know any country that has a perfect record of absorbing funds from whatever source. And the Republic of Moldova is certainly not perfect in this context either. We are trying to help to improve this capacity, but there is still a long way to go. Recently, the majority of donors for the Republic of Moldova signed, together with the Prime Minister (Vlad Filat – IPN), a document called “The Partnership Principles”. One of the objectives of these principles is to improve the absorption capacities of the Moldovan institutions. ” The European Union has been Moldova's largest donor since the declaration of independence, with over €500 million being offered in aid.