EBRD to double financial assistance to Moldova in 2008

The financial assistance provided to Moldova by the European bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in 2008 will amount to 75-100 million euros, compared with 37 million in 2007. Varel Freeman, EBRD’s first vice president, on Thursday, April 24, told a news conference the bank hailed its efficient cooperation with Moldova. 2008 will be a record year as for the number of projects carried out here. About half of them will be implemented in the public sector, and 2/3 in the private sector, Info-Prim Neo reports. Varel Freeman says the projects envisage the modernization of the Chisinau airport, water supply and drainage, enhancing power efficiency, conserving energy. He has remarked in Moldova they consume three times more energy per capita than in European developed countries. The EBRD official hopes the road rehabilitation project, funded with World Bank and the European Investment Bank, will be of much use for Moldova’s development. The EBRD will go on supporting small and medium-sized companies opening credit lines through the local banks. Varel Freeman has appreciated the investment climate in Moldova is improving. “Moldova has made much progress in curbing poverty, people have now more perspectives than before and if one perseveres in the economic reforms, it could become a medium-income country in the near future,” he added. Moldova became an EBRD member in 1992. In March 2008, it adopted the new strategy for Moldova’s financial sector, assessed at 70 million euros. EBRD Governors’ annual meeting is scheduled in Kiev for May 19.