October 19 (SeeNews) - The French Development Agency, AFD, will provide a 60 million euro ($59 million) loan to Moldova to finance reforms in the energy and railway sectors, Moldova's finance ministry said on Wednesday.
The contracted loan will have a maturity of 15 years, including a grace period of 5 years, and will be disbursed in a single installment, the finance ministry said in a press release.
The loan needs to be approved by Moldova's parliament.
The AFD announced in May that it is considering the loan. At the time, the institution also said that its initiatives in Moldova will focus on the country’s gradual convergence with EU standards with an eye to joining the EU, the implementation of the Paris Agreement on climate and the adaptation to the consequences of the war in Ukraine.
At the Moldova Support Conference held on April 5 in Berlin, France pledged support in the order of 126 million euro, including 75 million euro via AFD. The first budgetary aid of 15 million euro on behalf of the French state to Moldova to face the consequences of the war in Ukraine was approved in mid-April.
The EU Council granted Moldova and Ukraine EU candidate status in June.
($=1.0192 euro)