OREANDA-NEWS. May 16, 2014. Poland will provide Moldova with 100-miilion-euro-worth financial assistance. An agreement in this respect was signed in Poland, within a visit of a Moldovan governmental delegation, led by Prime Minister Iurie Leanca.

The PM participated in an annual meeting of Governors’ of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the government’s communication and media relations department has reported.

The document stipulates the providing of a 100-million-euro-worth financial aid by the Polish government to Moldova for a 25-year period, at annual rate of 0.15 per cent and a five-year grace period.

The money will be used for financing modernisation projects of the Moldovan agro-food sector, meant to restructure the agricultural area, especially the farms specialised in producing traditional agricultural products (milk, meat), as well as other competitive agricultural goods. This assistance will also allow investing into modern technologies for processing agro-food goods. The agreement will help ensure the implementation of the provisions of the Moldova-European Union Association Agreement.

The document was signed by the finance ministers of the two states, Anatol Arapu and Mateusz Szczurek, in the presence of Moldovan and Polish Prime Ministers Iurie Leanca and Donald Tusk, respectively.

Donald Tusk stressed that the agreement was mutually advantageous and would contribute to strengthen the bilateral ties in modernising the agro-food sector. „On one hand, the Moldovan farmers will have access to a cheap credit, on the other hand, this agreement will be also fruitful for Poland, as a part of the money will be spent on Polish equipment for animal husbandry,” Tusk said.

Iurie Leanca highlighted that the accord, signed today, was extremely beneficial for the development of the Moldovan agriculture. „This is not only an element of friendship, understanding, but also wish to help us to overcome the current problems. In fact, this is not a loan, but an investment into Moldova’s future, an investment into efforts to stabilise the situation in the region and extend this zone of prosperity and security to the south-eastern Europe,” Leanca added.