Gavrilita to WB President: Moldova Needs Flexible Grants to Support Population

During a working visit to the US, Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilita urged the World Bank to provide flexible grants to support the population during the crisis caused by the war in Ukraine. Possibilities of allocating additional funding for next year, speeding up projects in agriculture, energy and infrastructure, as well as support needed for Moldova’s structural reforms were discussed Tuesday at a meeting between the Prime Minister and World Bank Group President David Malpass, moldpres.md reported. This was reported by the government’s press and protocol department. The Prime Minister said that Moldova remains firmly committed to the process of reforming key sectors, despite all crises, and in order to achieve these reforms it is important for our country to have access to more flexible financing instruments and to implement existing projects faster for the benefit of the people. “We continue to take all necessary steps to ensure that this crisis, which exists around the world, affects our citizens to a lesser degree. We stand with the people in this difficult period and count on assistance in the form of grants to manage the risks that are caused by external factors, such as the military conflict in Ukraine,” Gavrilita stressed. At the same time, the Prime Minister praised the World Bank’s openness to facilitate modernization and transformation of priority areas, referring to ongoing projects in health care, education, agriculture and regional infrastructure. The Prime Minister also said that, given the current vulnerability of the energy situation in Moldova, energy interconnection projects and those meant to help improve the quality of heating energy services are gaining importance. The sides discussed measures to reduce inflationary pressures, ensure food security, as well as the importance of promoting exports to the EU market in order to redirect the affected trade. In the context, David Malpass said that the World Bank will remain Moldova’s credible partner, able to make a significant contribution to overcome the present difficulties and to promote lasting reforms. In the next period, a new strategy of partnership with Moldova will be worked out. At the end of the meeting, Natalia Gavrilita invited David Malpass to visit Moldova. Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilita is on a working visit to the USA on July14-21, where leaders of governments, business people and scientists are meeting to discuss some of the topical changes facing the humanity today. Point