Moldovan premier meets team of Mission of European Commission's Directorate‑General for Economic and Financial Affairs

Chisinau, 9 February /MOLDPRES/ - Prime Minister Pavel Filip today met representatives of the Mission of the Directorate‑General for Economic and Financial Affairs (DG ECFIN) of the European Commission, on a visit to Chisinau to assess the fulfillment of those ten conditions for the disbursement of the first installment of EU’s macro-financial assistance, the government’s communication and protocol department has reported.

On this occasion, the prime minister thanked the DG ECFIN team for the support provided in the process of getting the macro-financial assistance, noting the latter’s  importance in the process reforms carried out by the government. At the same time, the PM said that the national institutions had made every effort to fulfill the conditions for the earmarking of the first installment. “We rely on these funds to back the pace of reforms and of the economic growth,” Pavel Filip said.  

The prime minister specified that decision-makers undertook all needed measures to ensure the functionality and independence of the National Integrity Authority (ANI) and the Office for the Prevention of Money Laundering, and the fight against corruption and reforms in the justice sector remained priority this year too. The PM also said the government enjoyed parliament’s support in implementing the legislative conditions for the disbursement of the macro-financial assistance. Moreover, Pavel Filip said that the fulfillment of the commitments for the next installments and the approval of the budget law were set for the parliament’s spring-summer session.

The representatives of the ECFIN Directorate-General of the European Commission appreciated the ambitious programme of reforms. At the same time, the assessors found out a good progress not only for the first installment. They encouraged the cabinet to strengthen the financial and banking sector and consolidate efforts of fighting corruption and the process of reforms in justice.

Moldova and the European Union signed a package of documents on the providing of a macro-financial assistance worth 100 million euros to Moldova in Brussels on 23 November 2017. Forty million euros is provided as grant and 60 million euros – as loan. The money will be earmarked in three equal installments, depending on the progress made in the implementation of the conditions established in the Memorandum between Moldova and the European Union.