Government announces setting up new agreement whereby land on Tighina street to be sold for future headquarters of U.S. Embassy in Moldova

Chisinau, March 29. /MOLDPRES/- 5.2-hectare land on Tighina Street will be sold to the U.S. Embassy through an agreement. The government initiated negotiating the document that will unlock the process by which this land in the center of the capital, abandoned for almost 17 years, will be able to be used, and this sector of Chisinau will be revitalized.

It is estimated that the sale price will be around 15 million euros, but all the final data will be made public after the negotiating team has concluded all the processes.

The money from the sale of the land will be allocated for several important projects:

- the creation of Universul Contemporary Art and Culture Center;
- the repair of sports schools throughout the country;
- carrying out the feasibility study and designing the future National Stadium.

The sale will be made at a fair price and comes with several mandatory conditions: keeping the gates as an architectural value, creating a green area on that land and respecting some height restrictions.

By April 10, the project is to be approved by the ministries and the parliamentary committee for foreign policy and European integration. Afterwards, negotiations will begin that will determine the exact text of the new agreement, including the final amount of the transaction, the height of the construction and the money that will be provided by the American side to buy back the buildings from the private owners.

Some highlights of this process:

- The U.S. Embassy has been looking for a site for its headquarters for more than 20 years. The first discussion about it was held in 2008, shortly after the demolition of the former stadium in 2007.
- The first official request of the U.S. Embassy to obtain this land was made in 2015 and since then the representatives of the diplomatic mission have been discussing with Chisinau authorities.
- The embassy will invest at least 250 million dollars in this project that will add value to the urban center of Chisinau.
- During more than 30 years, the USA has helped the citizens of the Republic of Moldova with over 2.5 billion dollars in non-reimbursable assistance. We have a strategic, stable and strong partnership with the US.
- We are not talking about selling the stadium, given that it was demolished in 2007. We are talking about selling an abandoned land. For 17 years, the area has been unsanitary, dirty, turned into a shelter for stray dogs and street people.