After representatives of the Government earlier spoke about a modest economic growth of 0.3%, now Minister of Economy Sergiu Gaibu said that this year the Republic of Moldova will see economic stagnation. The official noted the exports to Russia, Belarus and Ukraine remain blocked, but the economic relations with Ukraine were partially restored and a part of the imports were resumed. The financial assistance for Moldova announced in Berlin on Tuesday will be used to implement infrastructure projects and as budget support, IPN reports.
Sergiu Gaibu noted that the impact of the halt in exports to the three states that are directly or indirectly involved in the war on business activity is insignificant. Moldova’s exports to Ukraine, Belarus and Russia represent 15% in total. Now the businesses should identify new markets.
“We anticipate economic stagnation. We will not have growth this year, if only major factors that can change the rules of the game appear. Our exports to Ukraine and Belarus constitute by 3%, while to Russia – 8.5%. A part of these exports are actually re-exports and they do not have such a high value added, which is the impact on the GDP will not be so great. A large part of these products can be reoriented to other markets, which means that the business entities earlier exported such goods to other states. This is not the case of apples. 98% of the apples were sold to the Eastern market. It’s clear that we should orient ourselves to other markets. When the war broke out, the imports from Ukraine stopped, but now some of them were resumed. Things were partially restored,” Sergiu Gaibu stated in the program “The Fourth Estate” on N4 TV channel.
The financial assistance announced by the European community for the Republic of Moldova in Berlin yesterday will go to cover current costs. The Government spent unplanned funds on managing the refugee crisis.
“The money will be allocated over three years. We now need money first of all for infrastructure and for the budget as all these crises consumed resources, but the funds were planned for the citizens,” stated Sergiu Gaibu.
At the Moldova Support Conference in Berlin, the participants announced a total amount of €659.5 million in direct financial support for Moldova, including €108.2 million in direct grant assistance and €530 million in credit lines.
