In a press release issued by the Ministry of Transport and Road Infrastructure it has been announced that the World Bank is willing to provide support to our country in the amount of USD 55 million for local roads development works, as of the current year. According to the press release, the Minister of Transport and Road Infrastructure, Vasile Botnari, has discussed the cooperation plan with the World Bank delegation, led by Simon Ellis, Head of the WB team for the programme in the area of transport in the Republic of Moldova.
Vasile Botnari noted that the Ministry of Transport and Road Infrastructure has started a programme of repairs of roads in urban areas in 2014, for the first time; it shall continue this year as well. However, in the opinion of the Minister, the support of the development partners would enable an accelerated rehabilitation of the local roads that became deplorable due to the chronic lack of funding.
‘We have managed to identify sources of internal financing to start repairing roads between villages, so as to provide their residents access to the main social objectives. However we shall need the support of development partners in order to achieve greater progress in this direction’, said Vasile Botnari.
In his turn, Simon Ellis said that the advisors’ team appointed for selecting the roads to be rehabilitated, has started working, and expressed his confidence that the priorities of that project would be set as soon as possible. “We are willing to help rehabilitate the local roads in Moldova with an investment of USD 55 million. Once the advisors are mobilized, it shall be possible to move faster”, declared the World Bank representative.
Furthermore, Minister Vasile Botnari and the World Bank representatives have discussed ways to speed up the procedures required to sign the Financing Agreement with the WB that provides for road infrastructure works in the country.
