PM visits north Moldovan district

Chisinau, 16 February /MOLDPRES/ – Prime Minister Pavel Filip talked today with representatives of local authorities in Soroca about the problems faced by local authorities and Cabinet’s priorities to improve the living standards of citizens, the government's communication and protocol department has informed.

The prime minister reviewed the government's achievements during a year of taking office, noting that in 2016 the Executive's actions were aimed at stabilizing social, economic and financial difficulties resulted over several years. "We do not talk about triumphal results, but we refer to actions that have stabilized the situation in Moldova," said Pavel Filip.

The head of cabinet urged local authorities to get engaged more actively in implementation of policies aimed at improving the living conditions of citizens, modernization of public services and infrastructure development in Moldova. "We should not talk about central public authorities and local authorities. We should not to sit on different sides of the barricade, but work as a team," added Pavel Filip.

The prime minister gave assurances that reforms aimed at modernizing Moldova would continue and the government would make the necessary efforts to continue Moldova's European path. "The quality of citizens' lives will change when we implement quality of every action of the Association Agreement Moldova – European Union," the prime minister said.

Referring to the priorities for further period, prime minister enumerated the removing bureaucratic barriers, reform of public procurement system and transparent use of public funds. "Now that we started several social reforms in health care, including primary care, hospital system and public health, we are able to extend and we intend to have a very ambitious reform agenda for 2017 and 2018," said head of the Executive.

In this context, local representatives appreciated the health reforms promoted by the government in 2016, including reduced prices for essential medicines and providing compensated treatment for certain categories of citizens.

Another topic at the meeting was the local authority reform. The prime minister gave assurances that the reform would be very well prepared and would be consulted with local authorities before being approved. At their part, the mayors stressed that within reform process should be reviewed not only the number of institutions, but their duties too.