Some 52% of the localities of the Republic of Moldova have fewer than 1,500 inhabitants, said the executive director of the Congress of Local Authorities of Moldova (CALM) Viorel Furdui. According to him, village depopulation should not be yet the basic argument in the voluntary amalgamation process. Viorel Furdui is skeptical about the process of merging localities, noting that the sociopolitical situation in the country is not conducive to the amalgamation process.
According to the legislation, if two or more localities in Moldova decide to merge, the Government supports this process and during seven years will allocate money for infrastructure development and for supporting the budgets of amalgamated localities.
“There is everything necessary, but it’s not known if there will be amalgamation. The intentions of a number of representatives of the Government are to implement this mechanism because the legal basis already exists, regulations exist and there is a financing fund. The idea is to resort to piloting to see how this tool works. I don’t know if the social, political, economic context is appropriate. Policies in the field of education, social assistance offer us possibilities to centralize, not to decentralize. The latest data show that 52% of the mayor’s offices manage a population lower than 1,500 inhabitants. But the number of people cannot be the basic argument,” Viorel Furdui stated in the program “Reflection Points” on Vocea Basarabiei station.
In 2024, within the European Village Program, localities with up to 1,500 inhabitants will be have access to funds of up to one million lei without an own contribution. On the other hand, localities with a population of more than 1,500 inhabitants can get funds of up to 3 million lei without an own contribution or of up to 10 million lei with an own contribution of at least 15%. CALM director Viorel Furdui says that by introducing this ceiling, the state discourages the development of small localities.
“Do you know that the European Village fund is closed to localities with fewer than 1,500 inhabitants, to projects of 3-10 million? The one million limit was imposed. That is, mayor’s offices managing up to 1,500 inhabitants can apply only for projects of up to one million lei. One million is almost nothing. Do you see what the price of building materials is now? And not only the state institutions follow this path. The development partners also impose restrictions. You can apply to donor-funded projects if localities are amalgamated or if cooperation agreements are concluded between two or three localities and these apply for projects together,” stated Viorel Furdui.
In the state budget law for 2024, the authorities planned 150 million lei for the amalgamation of localities.
