Maia Sandu announces the launch of the "European Village Express" Programme
100 modernisation projects have been completed under the European Village Programme. At the same time, the Government will launch a new programme for the modernisation and Europeanisation of the Republic of Moldova - "European Village Express". The announcement was made by President Maia Sandu at a press briefing on Tuesday 25 April.
"I said in the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova that we will work in a disciplined and coordinated way to modernize the infrastructure and improve the quality of life in the localities of Moldova. This means bringing the European Union home, good living conditions for every citizen wherever they live. Natural things that people have been deprived of for decades, drinking water in the home, sewage, European roads, kindergartens and modern hospitals mean European Moldova ", said Maia Sandu.
The head of state noted that almost 100 thousand people enjoy the effects of the "European Village" programme every day.
"More than 20 thousand people have gained access to drinking water and around 34 thousand enjoy public lighting. Every project carried out under the European Village programme means concrete changes, changes that make life better for many people, young people learning in better conditions, economic opportunities for those who want to work, elderly people who have normal living conditions, families who feel good where they live and no longer feel the need to leave home", said Maia Sandu.
At the same time, due to requests from the people in the localities she visited, the decision was taken to launch the "European Village Express" programme, which will implement infrastructure improvement projects on an express basis and with fewer financial resources than large-scale projects.
The programme is to be launched by the Government in the next period.
Maia Sandu noted that the new programme must meet the following conditions:
- It should allow localities to implement projects quickly, with a maximum completion time of 6 months, and address the urgent needs of localities;
- Simplify the procedure for submitting projects to the competition;
"Our people are welcoming and hardworking. We know how to take care of our homes and develop our locality, but we need financial resources to do this as well as possible. By creating the national programme "European Village" and launching the European Village Express programme we will contribute to building a European Moldova, we will build Europe here at home. (...) Village by village, Europe will reach our homes ", said Maia Sandu.
The European Village National Programme was launched in March 2022. Through this programme, rural infrastructure development projects are funded. The programme aims at sustainable development of localities, ensuring citizens' access to quality public services, increasing the population's access to social infrastructure and increasing the degree of exploitation of opportunities for attracting investment from external sources in local public authorities.
The maximum value of a project that can be approved is 10 million lei. In total, 492 projects have been selected for funding which will cost around 2 billion lei to implement, money allocated from the National Fund for Regional and Local Development.
