EBRD lends €100 million to Moldova for roads upgrades

The EBRD will lend €100 million to Moldova to finance the rehabilitation of roads near its border with Ukraine, adding to an existing €150 million loan in 2013 for road upgrades.

Moldova is a gateway between the European Union (EU) to its west and countries to its east. The Pan European Corridor IX, linking Moscow, Kyiv and Bucharest, runs east-west through Moldova, passing through its capital, Chisinau, and also connecting to the southern ports of the Black Sea and Istanbul, which provide access eastward to the Caucasus and Central Asia.

In June, Moldova was granted candidate status to join the EU. To secure sustained economic growth despite Russia’s war on Ukraine, it is vital that the country’s road sector provides improved access to EU markets, as well as maintaining access to its traditional markets in the east. Whilst the war and the sanctions imposed by the EU on Russia have severed these traditional trade links, Moldova’s strategic position is of great importance to ensure transportation and continued trade flows from Ukraine to Romania, to the Danube river via Moldova’s Giurgiulesti port, and to other EU countries.

The €100 million EBRD loan – for the rehabilitation of roads between the towns of Soroca and Arionesti (46km) and from Arionesti to the border with Ukraine, at Otaci (9.5 km) – will support the government’s efforts to ensure key road links are maintained to standards that will facilitate economic growth, regional integration and trade.

The EBRD is a leading institutional investor in Moldova. To date, the Bank has invested more than €1.8 billion in the country through 158 projects, with 57 per cent of its portfolio in sustainable infrastructure.