The Cabinet approved the National Local Development Program “European Village” for 2024-2028. The document stipulates that until the implementation is completed in 500 localities of the country, the local social infrastructure will be improved. Also, for more than half a million citizens, improved access to the local technical-municipal infrastructure is to be ensured, IPN reports.
“The purpose of the program is to improve living conditions, increase investment attractiveness and ensure the sustainable development of the localities of the Republic of Moldova. We will do this by accelerating the pace of equipping the administrative-territorial units with all the necessary infrastructure,” Minister of Infrastructure and Regional Development Andrei Spînu stated in the Cabinet’s meeting.
According to him, the program provides for strengthening the capacity of 400 employees from the local public administration in implementing projects, accessing and attracting investments. “This point is extremely important for bringing our country closer to the European Union and opening pre-accession funds,” noted the minister.
Also, the authorities set the goal of providing about 200,000 people will access to water by 2028. Currently, 30% of localities of the country lack centralized water supply systems, while in over 50% of localities where centralized systems exist, the quality of supplied water doesn’t meet the normative requirements.
Under the program, over 250,000 people will have street lighting in the locality, while at least 50 localities will have already developed urban plans.
In March 2022, the Government initiated the pilot contest “European Village” to support local development projects – with a 12-month period for implementing investment projects and financing of up to 10 million lei per project. In July 2023, the Government launched the pilot small grants contest “European Villag Express”, with an accelerated investment project implementation period of up to six months and financing of up to 450,000 lei.
According to Ministry of Infrastructure and Regional Development, more than 1,400 projects were submitted in these two competitions, indicating a successful mobilization of over 80% of the local public authorities to prepare and submit the participation files.
