Facilitating local socio-economic growth and improving the living standards of citizens in two key regions, the municipalities of Ungheni and Cahul, and the surrounding communities. These were the two major goals promoted under the EU4Moldova: Key Regions Program, which started in 2019. The results of the program were discussed during an IPN debate on Wednesday.
 
Ion Dolganiuc, mayor of Colibași, Cahul district, shared the experience of his community, which built a local market under the program. The project received 4 million lei in funding from the program of the total budget of 7 million lei. The District Council contributed 1.2 million and the remainder was covered by the Colibași administration.

Before the new market was built, Colibaşi had an old, small square in open air with a row of stalls that had served as a marketplace for years. On Mondays, the market day, vendors from across the area would attract hundreds or even a thousand local buyers, says the mayor. In the summer, vending diary or meats would create sanitary risks. So, the local administration decided to repurpose a boiler room into a vending hall, with the stall area expanded and overall conditions improved.

Nicolae Dandiș, mayor of Cahul municipality, noted that the selection of these regions for the program was based on several indicators, such as existing infrastructure, population size and development potential. The mayor of Cahul says that the program appeared as a timely and important investment for the city’s development plans. The program financed by the EU and implemented with the support of UNDP Moldova and UNICEF Moldova, targeted several areas, including infrastructure. What the mayor wants very much, and discussions are ongoing with the funding partners, is for the program to be continued for both the key regions and other localities.

“It is a complex program, the most important support program from the EU that focuses on local and regional development. Until the launch of the program it was said that it was important to have capacity building programs and to develop local and regional projects. Both Cahul and Ungheni appear in several strategic documents, but also in this program they are in the list of cities as growth poles, which had a portfolio of projects for which investments were needed. This program fitted perfectly with the regional development strategies and became a solid support for the projects that the Government had undertaken for the development of the regions”, said Nicolae Dandiș.

The debate was the sixth installment of the Benefits of EU Accession Series, run by IPN with the support of the Soros Moldova Foundation.