The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is the biggest investor in Moldova, with capital injections in diverse projects amounting to over half a billion dollars, Head of the EBRD Office in Moldova Dimitri Gvindadze has said at a news conference held on the occasion of the end of his mandate in Chisinau.
According to Gvindadze, EBRD in 2017 invested about 130 million euros in ten projects, of which seven ones in the private sector.
“In late last November, the EBRD Board of Directors adopted a new strategy for Moldova for a five-year period. We have several relevant priorities for Moldova, which will allow opening more opportunities. One of these priorities is the banking sector,” Dimitri Gvindadze said.
The EBRD representative noted that the bank would continue working with client banks, so that small- and medium-sized enterprises have benefits. “Also, we work with investors with good reputation and we facilitate transparency in this process as regards the financing. The transaction on purchasing Victoriabank by Banca Transilvania will end in next mid-January,” the head of the EBRD office in Moldova said.
The energy sector and infrastructure are two pillar fields of cooperation between Moldova and EBRD. Dimitri Gvindadze referred, in particular, to a loan worth 80 million euros, due to be provided for the interconnection of Moldovan power networks with the Romanian ones. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development will back also initiatives of investments in Free Economic Zones, improving the business climate.
“We will continue carrying out projects in the Chisinau municipality and the region as regards the environment, management of water, residual waters and solid waste. We will work to de-block the situation in the transport infrastructure as well,” Dimitri Gvindadze specified.
The EBRD official added that the bank would provide assistance to prepare Moldovan enterprises for privatization.
