Never in recent history has the Republic of Moldova needed the help of the international community as it does now, declared the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bogdan Aurescu, at the beginning of the third Ministerial Conference of the Support Platform for the Republic of Moldova, held in Paris, Agerpres reports.

„And I want to tell my good friend, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Nicu Popescu, that the Republic of Moldova can totally count on us. The Support Platform for the Republic of Moldova, created by Romania, Germany and France together, at the initiative of the ministers of foreign affairs of the three states, is clearly a very useful tool to respond to these urgent needs,” the minister stated, according to a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

„Securing the necessary funds for the purchase of gas and electricity is the main challenge the Republic of Moldova now faces,” Aurescu declared.

He recalled that Romania recently offered the Republic of Moldova a grant worth 10 million euros, in the form of direct budget assistance, in accordance with the commitment assumed within the Support Platform for the Republic of Moldova. The second edition of the Platform, which took place in Bucharest, obtained a total of 615 million euros, of which 432 million in the form of grants. At the same time, after Ukraine stopped its electricity exports, following Russia’s attacks on some power plants, Romania facilitated, starting on October 14, the delivery of electricity, currently providing between 80% and 90% of the necessary.

Also, Romania is preparing to deliver 130,000 cubic meters of firewood, at a preferential price, to help the Republic of Moldova compensate for the deficit caused by the reduction in the volume of gas delivered by Russia.

„We accelerated the implementation process of our 100 million euro grant, based on projects. In this framework, Romania intends to offer, until the end of this year, grants of 25 million euros for projects in strategic fields for the development of the Republic Moldova, such as education, regional development and the improvement of public utility services,” Aurescu also specified.

The ministerial conference in Paris of the Support Platform for the Republic of Moldova is co-chaired by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Bogdan Aurescu, together with the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs of France, Catherine Colonna, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Germany, Annalena Baerbock.

Now in its third edition, after the ministerial meetings held this year in Berlin, on April 5, respectively in Bucharest, on July 15, the event benefits from the participation of the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, and the President of the Republic of Moldova, Maia Sandu.

Agerpres