CHISINAU, April 18. /TASS/. Moldova has signed an agreement to receive a loan of 200 million euro from Russia, Moldovan President Igor Dodon said on his Facebook page on Friday.
"Moldovan Ambassador to Russia Andrei Neguta signed a loan agreement with top officials of the Russian Finance Ministry. The document envisages issuing the first installment of the 200-million-euro loan to our country," the president said, adding that "it was the first concrete financial assistance" that Moldova received from its partners in connection with the current crisis.
"The funds will be directed to Moldova’s state budget, to cover the country’s needs, including infrastructure projects," he said.
Dodon thanked Russian partners and personally Russian President Vladimir Putin for the aid.
The text of the agreement, which is yet to be ratified by the Moldovan parliament, says that "the first installment of 100 million euro [will be provided] no later than 30 days since the agreement enters force, <...> the second installment of 100 million euro - no later than October 31, 2020," says.
The money will be allocated "for budgetary support goals" for a period of 10 years, with an annual interest rate of 2%.
Moldovan Prime Minister Ion Chicu said that due to the current crisis, triggered by the novel coronavirus outbreak, the country’s state budget deficit is expected to grow to approximately 825 million euro, or 7.5% of the country’s GDP.