EU disburses €50 million in Macro-Financial Assistance to the Republic of Moldova

The European Commission, on behalf of the EU, has disbursed €50 million in macro-financial assistance (MFA) to the Republic of Moldova. This disbursement is part of the €3 billion emergency MFA package for ten enlargement and neighbourhood partners, which aims to help them respond to the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. MFA support is provided through loans at very favourable rates. The programme is a concrete demonstration of the EU’s solidarity with its partners to help respond to the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Paolo Gentiloni, Commissioner for the Economy, said: “I am pleased that the European Union has disbursed a further €50 million in financial support to the Republic of Moldova. This is a concrete demonstration of the EU’s commitment to helping Moldova respond to the economic and social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. These funds, released following the fulfilment of agreed policy commitments, acknowledge the progress the country is making in implementing the measures needed to secure a more stable and prosperous future.”

The first €50 million disbursement to Moldova under this MFA programme took place in November 2020. Moldova has made remarkable progress to complete the policy conditions agreed with the EU for the release of this second and final €50 million disbursement under its current COVID-19 MFA programme. These included important measures to improve public finance management in the health sector, fight against corruption, measures to strengthen good governance and the rule of law, as well as to improve the business climate.

Moldova also continues to satisfy the pre-conditions as regards the respect of human rights and effective democratic mechanisms, including a multi-party parliamentary system and the rule of law.

With this disbursement, the EU has successfully completed five out of the 10 MFA programmes in the €3 billion COVID-19 MFA package, and disbursed the first tranches to all partners.

The Commission continues to work closely with the rest of its MFA partners on the timely implementation of the agreed policy programmes.