About 185 million MDL from the National Fund for Regional Development Provided for Regional Development Projects

The members of the National Coordination Council for Regional Development (NCCRD) have decided to allocate about 185 million MDL from the National Fund for Regional Development Fund (NFRD), for regional development projects. The decision was taken on February 16, at the Council's first annual meeting.

The Minister of Agriculture, Regional Development and Environment, Mr Liviu Volconovici, have specified that the money are provided for 35 projects in 6 areas of intervention: regional and local road infrastructure, water supply and sanitation, solid waste management, business infrastructure development, increased tourist attractiveness, energy efficiency of public buildings.

"According to the draft state budget law for 2018, from the NFRD is allocated 200 000,0 thousand MDL. About 80% or 185 million MDL of the Fund's money are provided for the projects in progress from the previous years and other projects initiated in the current year. 10 projects are for the water supply and sanitation of the localities, 8 for the development of the business infrastructure in the region, 5 for the regional and local roads infrastructure, and one project in the field of solid waste management", said the Minister of Agriculture, Regional Development and Environment, Mr Liviu Volconovici.

At the same time, the members agreed that the projects supporting the development of the private sector should be considered as a priority, especially those related to the creation and the development of the conditions for the activity of the Free Economic Zones, Industrial Parks and Business Incubators.

From the total number of the proposed for financing in 2018 projects, initiated or in progress, 11 projects are in the North region, 13 projects in Center, 7 projects in South and 4 projects in ATU Găgăuzia.

We would like to mention that, certain criteria were taken into account while selecting the projects: the co-financing from other sources, the accumulated score in the framework of the inter-ministerial commission evaluation, the level of preparation of the project for the immediate launch of public procurement and the presence of updated technical documentation.

The NFRD is created from the annual allocations from the state budget, as a distinct line for the regional development policy, which represents 1% of the approved state budget revenues for that year excluding the special funds.

February 16, 2018