DEVELOPMENT COOPERATION 2012 Annual Report on external assistance provided to the Republic of Moldova Chișinău, july 2013 State Chancellery of the Republic of Moldova
DEVELOPMENT COOPERATION
2012 Annual Report on external assistance provided to the Republic of Moldova
Chișinău, july 2013
State Chancellery of the Republic of Moldova
This report was published with the support of the EU Project ‘Support for State Chancellery – TTSIB’
© State Chancellery 2013
The information and views set out in this report are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the offi-cial opinion of the European Union. Neither the European Union institutions and bodies nor any person acting on their behalf may be held responsible for the use which may be made of the information contained therein.
Acronyms..........................................................................................................................................
Foreword............................................................................................................................................
Executive Summary............................................................................................................................
1. Introduction..............................................................................................................................................
1.1. Scope of Report.......................................................................................................................
1.2. Dimensions of Development Assistance Coordination..........................................................
1.3. The Role of the State Chancellery..............................................................................................
1.4. Methodology.............................................................................................................................
2. Overall Political and Social-Economic Situation in Moldova..........................................................................
2.1 Political Situation........................................................................................................................
2.2 Economic Situation.....................................................................................................................
2.3 Social Situation...........................................................................................................................
3. External Assistance Structure and Implementation Status in 2012..............................................................
3.1 Types of External Assistance........................................................................................................
3.2 Financing Modality.....................................................................................................................
3.3 Overview of Donor Support in 2012..........................................................................................
4. Strategic Priorities for External Assistance in 2012 based on the 2011-20 14 GAP ......................................
4.1. Building the Rule of Law....................................................................................................... ..
4.2. Economic and Financial Policies................................................................................................
4.3. Accountable and Efficient Administration..................................................................................
4.4. Foreign Policy..........................................................................................................................
4.5. Country Reintegration...............................................................................................................
4.6. Education and Research.............................................................................................................
4.7. Health of Population.................................................................................................................
4.8. Social Policies............................................................................................................................
4.9. Environment Protection.............................................................................................................
5. Challenges and Prospects in 2013...........................................................................................................
ANNEXES
A. Questionnaire Evaluation Summary..............................................................................................................
B. External Assistance Projects in 2012..............................................................................................................
C. External Assistance Agreements Signed in 2012............................................................................................
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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19
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30
31
32
36
37
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61
4 2012 Annual Report on external assistance provided to the Republic of Moldova
EA
AIPA
ODA
CPA
LPA
CEB
EIB
EBRD
WB
EC
ECHR
CIB
ICJ
MCC
DANIDA
EUBAM
ETF
NIF
IMF
IDEA
ENPI
IFAD
IFIs
SME
LED
OECD
ODIMM
NGO
UN
External Assistance
Agency for Interventions and Payments in Agriculture
Official Development Assistance
Central Public Authorities
Local Public Authorities
Council of Europe Development Bank
European Investment Bank
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
World Bank
Comisia Europeană
European Court of Human Rights
Comprehensive Institution Building Program
International Court of Justice
Millennium Challenge Corporation
Danish Assistance for International Development
European Union Border Assistance Mission
European Training Foundation
Neighborhood Investment Facility
International Monetary Fund
Integrated Database for External Assistance
European Neighborhood Partnership Instrument
International Fund for Agricultural Development
International Financial Institutions
Small and Medium Enterprises
Liechtenstein Development Service Foundation
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
Organization for Development of Small and Medium Enterprises
Non-governmental Organization
United Nations
ACRONYMS
52012 Annual Report on external assistance provided to the Republic of Moldova
OSCE
PARE
ENP
GDP
NAP
NPEEY
NIP
UNDP
BSP
RSPSP
RM
CAB
SIDA
SIGMA
NDS
USA
TAIEX
TB
TEMPUS
EU
UNAIDS
NCU
UNDAF
UNICEF
UNODC
USAID
GNI
WiB
Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe
Programme for Attracting Remittances into the Economy
European Neighborhood Policy
Gross Domestic Product
National Acton Plan
National Program for Economic Empowerment of Youth
National Indicative Program
United Nations Development Program
Budget Support Program
Road Sector Program Support Project
Republic of Moldova
Current Account Balance
Swedish International Development Agency
Support for Improvement in Governance and Management
National Development Strategy
United States of America
EU Technical Assistance and Information Exchange Instrument
Tuberculosis
Trans-European Mobility Programme for University Studies
European Union
Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS
National Coordinating Unit
United Nations Development Assistance Framework
United Nations Children’s Fund
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
US Agency for International Development
Gross National Income
Joint Fund for Female Entrepreneurs
6 Raport anual 2012 cu privire la asistenţa externă acordată Republicii Moldova
The external assistance provided by the international community continues to play a critical part in the social and economic development of Moldova and its efforts to achieve its priority objectives laid down in the national stra-tegic documents.
The development aid issue is very up-to-date and complex. Moreover, the re-orientation of the development process on social issues and the ones related to the quality of life puts the external assistance policy in a new light.
The Global Partnership – a forum created following the commitments made in Busan (Korea, 2011), makes a change in paradigm, shifting from “aid ef-fectiveness” to “development effectiveness”.
FOREWORD
7Raport anual 2012 cu privire la asistenţa externă acordată Republicii Moldova
The Global Partnership is expected to become a support mechanism for the post-2015 development agenda. While the UN High Level Panel deals with “WHAT” are the development priorities, the Global Partnership focuses on “HOW” to achieve them. In this context, the dynamic changes in time, the players and the development ways should be given good consideration. The Global Partnership will focus on: (i) recognition and facilitation of the in-volvement of stakeholders and (ii) supporting the reorientation of the global development agenda on improving the effectiveness of development.For a better coordination of the external assistance provided to Moldova, the Government of Moldova has taken a number of positive and decisive actions. In the meantime, the donors’ community has joined efforts to make sure that their assistance and cooperation meet the country’s needs and aspi-rations.This report, drafted by the State Chancellery and containing information about the Official Development Assistance (ODA) that the development partners provided to Moldova in 2012, should serve as a tool for building the future. It is expected to raise the awareness of stakeholders, increase the importance of the external assistance and evaluate how it is used, in particu-lar in terms of how the external resources contribute to the development of Moldova.If we look at the way the external funds have been used so far, it makes us hopeful that the Government and our country’s development partners can build a dialogue that will help increase the impact, efficiency and effective-ness of the external assistance.The State Chancellery takes this opportunity to express gratitude to the bi-lateral and multilateral donors and CPA for providing their inputs to this Report.
Victor Bodiu, Secretary General of the Government
Chisinau, July 2013
8 Raport anual 2012 cu privire la asistenţa externă acordată Republicii Moldova
This report brings together the final findings of the annual evaluation of the external assistance impact on the social and economic development of Moldova. It is based on a survey conducted through a questionnaire and interview process in ministries and other public authorities – recipi-ents of external assistance (EA), and the inputs from the foreign development partners and other players in charge of assistance planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. The report aims to increase the efficiency, effectiveness, impact and sustainability of the external assistance provided to Moldova, as well as to increase the transparency, relevance and availability of informa-tion about the programming, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of EA available to the state institutions, donors and the public.This exercise was conducted by the State Chancellery – the national authority in charge of the coordination of the external assistance at national level (NCU).The role of the external assistance in supporting Moldova achieve its development priorities was significant in 2012, when the country implemented 384 projects in different sectors, including 116 governance and civil society projects, 58 infrastructure and social services projects, 49 educa-tion projects, 31 projects in agriculture, 29 multi-sector projects, 24 private sector projects, 19 en-vironmental projects and 16 energy generation and supply projects. Overall, 98 new projects were started with new commitments amounting to 206.6 million Euros in different sectors, according to the national development policies.The European Union is the largest of the many development partners active in Moldova. Other important donors are EBRD, EIB, WB, the Government of the United States of America, UN, the Kingdom of Sweden, Austria, the Swiss Confederation and the German Federal Republic.The general evaluation of the EA projects in 2012 suggests that the projects accompanied by the strong commitment of the country’s leadership and the involvement of the managers of the cen-tral public authorities had the strongest impact. Overall, the project beneficiaries gave a positive rating to the external assistance impact on all the sectors, while 43% of the projects were seen as having had a significant impact on sector development. A critical finding of the evaluation is that the external assistance provided in 2012 by different development partners was in line with the Government Activity Program 2011-2014 “European Integration: Freedom, Democracy and Welfare” (94% of the evaluated projects), which, as mentioned earlier, is the policy framework for the sustainable development of Moldova for the medium term.The purpose of the activities carried out by NCU in 2012 was to increase the transparency of the external assistance operations in Moldova and availability of such information, as well as to enforce the national regulations on assistance coordination approved in 2010 and reinforce the commu-nication between the development partners, the public authorities and the civil society in order to increase the impact of the external assistance in Moldova.The external assistance disbursements to Moldova in 2012 amounted to 465 million Euros, i.e. about 8.26% of GDP or about 21.65% of the incomes to the National Public Budget, and about two fifths of the net remittances.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
9Raport anual 2012 cu privire la asistenţa externă acordată Republicii Moldova
The long term balanced economic development and integration of the Moldovan economy with that of the Euro-pean Union can be achieved only through the efficient use of the internal and external resources.
The external assistance provided by the development partners plays an important role in supporting the country to develop and achieve the goals set out in the reform agenda. In 2012 the development partners, and especially the European Union, not only adhered to their commitments, but also allocated additional funds as an expression of their support for the on-going structural transformations in Moldova.
1.1. Scope of Report
This report was prepared by the General Division for Policy Coordination, Foreign Aid and Central Public Ad-ministration Reform1 of the State Chancellery as part of the actions meant to increase the government leadership in the coordination of external assistance and making it more effective.
As the external assistance management issues have taken on more intensity over the last few years, the Government has adopted a more proactive approach to external assistance, with a focus on the overall improvement of strategic planning, transparency and monitoring processes.
At global level, there has been an increased awareness of the need to maximize the available resources and to make more effective use of external assistance, as outlined in the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness and the Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation. The Paris Declaration calls on the development partners and governments “to provide timely, transparent and comprehensive information on aid flows so as to enable partner authorities to present comprehensive budget reports to their legislatures and citizens”.
The report covers only the official development assistance (ODA), as well as the non-concessional loans provided to Moldova and registered in the Aid Information Management System (AIMS) of the State Chancellery. Other external assistance to Moldova, e.g. humanitarian aid, grants provided to the Moldovan civil society organizations, assistance to the private sector, etc. is not included in this report2.
The report could be used by the Government and development partners as a tool for (i) coordination of assistance provided to Moldova, (ii) evaluation of the external assistance (iii) programming future donor activities in a coor-dinated manner by linking the aid provided by donors with the national development documents and, (iv) raising awareness of and providing detailed information to all the stakeholders involved in the implementation of the development agenda of Moldova.
1.2. Dimensions of Development Assistance Coordination
The international community recognizes different dimensions of development assistance coordination, which can be seen as three “stages3”.
Donor coordination refers to the specific mechanisms and arrangements agreed within the donor community to improve the donors’ effectiveness as partners in the development process.
Aid coordination refers to established mechanisms and arrangements that country governments and donors have agreed on in order to maximize the effectiveness of external development aid at national or sector levels (more proactive involvement of government counterparts, creation of a platform for improved aid forecasting and man-agement systems on the government side
1 Renamed through the Government Decision no. 940/2012, earlier known as General Division for Policies, Strategic Planning and EA. 2 Therefore, the information about the external financial flows is only partially included in the national budget. The technical cooperation, including assis-tance for study trips and internships, as well as the food and emergency aid or support for NGOs, account for about half of the assistance. 3 Review of coordination mechanisms of development cooperation in Tajikistan, 2009
INTRODUCTION
10 2012 Annual Report on external assistance provided to the Republic of Moldova
Development coordination (at national or sector levels) refers to the integration of an aid coordination system into the national government systems (policy-making and implementation, governance, accountability, etc.) that ultimately helps achieve development results.
The donor or aid coordination efforts alone will not achieve significant development results unless they are effec-tively integrated in national development planning and governance structures and systems. In other words, the aim of coordination is not just “aid effectiveness”, but rather “development effectiveness”.
All these dimensions are present in and relevant for Moldova. Once the national mechanisms of external assistance coordination were defined (in January 2010), elements like the National Coordinator, Sector Coordinator, Ter-ritorial Councils, Joint Partnership Council and the donors’ monthly meetings became platforms for permanent cooperation for coordination and improvement of the external development aid.
1.3. The Role of the State Chancellery
Governed by the principles of the Paris Declaration and the Global Partnership, both the Government and the de-velopment partners contribute towards strengthening the reform agenda in the national institutions, harmonizing the national development strategies and synchronizing cooperation with the development partners. The latter are working with the Government to address the institutional capacity limitations and other constraints that prevent the adequate use of external assistance.
According to the Government Decision No. 12 dated 19 January 2010 the State Chancellery is the National Aid Coordination Authority and is responsible, at national level, for the coordination of programming, monitoring and evaluation of the external assistance delivered to Moldova by the development partners. More specifically, it is the General Division for Policy Coordination, Foreign Aid and Central Public Administration Reform (NCU) of the State Chancellery that is in charge of the process. Some of its responsibilities are: (i) provision of support to the relevant public administration institutions in improving the sector external assistance coordination mechanism; (ii) monitoring and evaluation of external assistance to maximize its impact on the economic development of the country, (iii) ensuring transparency of external assistance and the implementation of a communications policy with the donor community and civil society.
To fulfill these tasks, the State Chancellery uses (i) an Aid Information Management System to record and process information about the assistance initiatives and related aid flows in Moldova and (ii) a network of Sector Coordi-nation Councils to manage and monitor the effectiveness of external assistance.
1.4. Methodology
The 2012 External Assistance Report makes an analysis of the external assistance provided to Moldova in the pe-riod 1 January - 31 December 2012 and evaluates the impact of the support provided by the donor community for the implementation of the Government Action Plan. The information and statistics presented in this report are based on the inputs from different public administration institutions and development partners.
This analysis reflects the external assistance information by the chapters of the Government Activity Program4.
To collect information the following tools were used:
— Aid Information Management System: a database managed by the State Chancellery.
— Quantitative survey: research was based on questionnaires sent to the target groups.
— Desk research: OECD/DAC database, relevant documents [such as the Government Activity Program (2011-2014 GAP), sector strategies, legal acts and regulations, etc.] were reviewed to allow data triangulation for a more precise analysis.
There were two target groups: (i) central public administration (CPA) and (ii) donor community.
The survey questionnaire was sent to 29 central public administration institutions to collect project information for 2012. A simplified questionnaire was sent to the donor community. The distribution of questionnaires was followed up by discussions with every beneficiary and donor to avoid any difficulties arising with understanding of the questionnaires and potential mistakes.
4 Government Activity Program „European Integration: Freedom, Democracy, Welfare”, 2011-2014
112012 Annual Report on external assistance provided to the Republic of Moldova
DisclaimerThe team is aware and acknowledges the fact that some data might be missing or not be fully accurate.
The figures on bilateral disbursements to Moldova might differ from the reports submitted by the development partners to OECD/DAC. Such differences could arise due to the fact that some support provided by bilateral donors was channeled through multilateral organizations and was managed by the donors’ central offices, or the projects are implemented at regional level with a common budget for several countries etc.
2.1. Political Situation
The EU-Moldova political dialogue continued to deepen in 2012 and the negotiations of an EU-Moldova Association Agreement, including a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA), (launched in 2012) made significant progress. In 2012, Moldova addressed most of the key recommendations contained in the previous year’s ENP Prog-ress Report. It continued the reforms in the areas of social assistance, health and education, energy, competition and state aid, as well as the regulatory approximation to the EU acquis. It finalized the remaining steps under the first phase of the visa liberalization action plan and on November 19, 2012 the EU Council adopted the Conclusions on the entry in the second visa dialogue phase.
In 2012 Moldova continued to be the most willing reformer and a frontrunner on many indicators in the Europe-an Integration Index5 for Eastern Partnership Countries.
5 The Index interprets the “progress in European Integration” in the Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries against three dimensions: A. Linkage: growing political, economic and social ties between each of the six EaP countries and the EU; B. Approximation: structures and institutions in the EaP countries converging towards EU standards and in line with EU requirements; C. Management: evolving management structures and policies for European integration in EaP countries.
„Moldova merită un sprijin conti-nuu întru respectarea angajamente-lor sale și este convingerea mea că merită un viitor ambițios. Vorbesc aici despre cel mai puternic instru-ment de politică externă a Uniunii Europene și expresia puterii sale de transformare finală - perspectiva pentru ca o țară să adere”…(Stefan Füle, Comisar European, la Forumul UE-Moldova în Berlin, Germania, la 22 octombrie 2012)
OVERALL POLITICAL AND SOCIAL-ECONOMIC SITUATION
IN MOLDOVA
12 2012 Annual Report on external assistance provided to the Republic of Moldova
The validation by the Constitutional Court of the election of the new President of Moldova put an end to a long period of political and constitutional deadlock. The Parliament managed to elect a president on 16 March 2012, thus providing policy makers with a window of stability to move ahead with their reform agenda for greater Euro-pean integration. However, friction and infighting continued among the ruling alliance members. With regard to Transnistria, the Moldovan authorities significantly stepped up their contacts with the new leadership in Tiraspol on the background of a revitalized ‘5+2’ settlement process.
In 2012 some other important events occurred that were relevant to political stability: the reform of the judiciary “recommenced”; the reform of the Centre for Fighting Economic Crimes and Corruption was initiated; and the Law on Equal Opportunities was passed. Events of major importance also occurred in foreign policy, including visits by Angela Merkel, Federal Chancellor of Germany; Jose Manuel Barroso, President of the European Com-mission; Bronislaw Komorowski, President of Poland, and Jean Claude Mignon, President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. These visits were indicative of the European support for integrating Moldova into the European Union. Another landmark foreign policy event was the repeal by the United States of the Jack-son-Vanik amendment, which had been in force since 1974 and restricted trade with countries in the Communist bloc.
To improve the political dialogue with the civil society, the Parliament approved in September 2012 the 2012-2015 Civil Society Development Strategy and its Action Plan.
Although 2012 was marked by important political events, according to the Freedom House report, in terms of politics and freedom of the press, Moldova advanced only one point from 19 in 2011 to 18 in 2012. In the fields of justice and economy, the situation remained the same as in 2011, i.e. 17 points for justice and 19 points for the economy6.
6 Report on the situation of the press in Moldova in 2012
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7Republic of Moldova
Georgia
Ukraine
Armenia
Azerbaijan
Belarus
Linkage Approximation Management
European Integration Index for Eastern Partnership countriesSource: Civil Society Forum
132012 Annual Report on external assistance provided to the Republic of Moldova
2.2. Economic SituationAlthough Moldova posted a strong recovery from the global economic crisis in 2010 and 2011, the country’s econ-omy declined in 2012 with real GDP down to -0.8%7. The economy was hit two-fold: (i) the slowdown in external demand and (ii) severe drought. Crisis in the Eurozone (sovereign debt and banking crisis) led to lower demand for exports and remittances from Europe. Meanwhile, agriculture was affected by a drought that caused value added to decline by 23%, with grain harvest halved. This was offset to a small extent by a minor increase in the value added in the industrial sector by 0.5%. In addition, robust growth of remittances from the CIS (Community of Independent States) countries (+18%) and the increase in real wages fuelled increase in consumption by 0.9%. While the current account improved in 2012, foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows fell. The current account deficit declined from 11.3% of GDP in 2011 to 7% of GDP in 2012, while the net direct investments almost halved from 4% of GDP in 2011 to 2.2% in 2012. With FDI falling, the current account deficit was financed by private sector borrowing and official financing to the public sector.
The Moldovan efforts were also reflected in the Global Competitiveness Report, where Moldova went up five ranks to 87 out of 144 states assessed. Despite this progress, further reforms are still need-ed, inter alia, in countering the grey economy in the retail sector, and the legislation needs to be im-proved.
Remittances (almost Euro 1.2 billion in 2012) continue to play a very important role in the economic develop-ment of Moldova, mainly in the context of poverty reduction.
On the other hand, the gross external debt increased by 12.7%.
Moldova was ranked 81st out of 183 economies in the Doing Business Indicator in 2012 (jumped 18 points up in comparison to 2011) and 132nd out of 155 countries in the 2012 Logistics Performance Index. 7 WB Economic Update, 10 April 2013.
GDP, quarterly difference in%Source: Ministry of Economy
4.7%
6.4%
8%
8.8%8.4%
6.8%
5.3%5.8%
1%0.6%
-1.7%
-2.5%
-4%
-2%
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
2010 Q1 2010 Q2 2010 Q3 2010 Q4 2011 Q1 2011 Q2 2011 Q3 2011 Q4 2012 Q1 2012 Q2 2012 Q3 2012 Q4
Remittances in million EUROSource: National Bank of Moldova
84 166
237 270 280 340
548
680
889
1,128
848 937
1,036
1,162
-
200
400
600
800
1,000
1,200
1,400
1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
14 2012 Annual Report on external assistance provided to the Republic of Moldova
2.3. Social SituationThe unemployment rate 8declined from 6.7% in 2011 to 5.5% in 2012. Moldova continued important reforms on social protection, such as the abolishment of nominal compensation system and its replacement with a new cash-benefits system. The Law on the state budget for 2012 increased the monthly minimal guaranteed income to 640 lei as against 575 in 2011. The number of social aid beneficiaries is on the rise and has got to 78 thousand as against 72 thousand in 2011. In the meantime, 85% of the funds allocated for social aid reach the poorest 10% of the population. A law on social inclusion of the disabled was passed in March. The social services network was complemented with a new service “Mobile Team” which provides social assistance, support and counseling at home for the disabled people for their further potential social inclusion. The pension reform continued in 2012 with the support of the EU and the World Bank with the aim of increasing the minimum duration of mandatory contributions and the retirement age for certain categories (judges and prosecutors).
The social dialogue on vocational education was strengthened, with functional sector skills councils9 established in four sectors: construction, agriculture, information technologies and transport.
3.1 Types of External Assistance
The external assistance complements the efforts of Moldova to foster its own comprehensive development in the context of EU integration and Busan principles for effective development cooperation: a) ownership of develop-ment priorities by developing countries, b) focus on results, c) inclusive development partnerships and d) transpar-ency and mutual accountability.
External assistance to Moldova comprises (i) official development assistance (ODA)10 and (ii) non-concessional loans, mainly from EBRD, EIB and CEB.
According to the OECD statistics, Moldova is among the top ten countries in Europe by the external assistance it receives. According to the data for 2011 (OECD data for 2012 are not available yet), the official development as-sistance in GNI for Moldova is about 6% (5.95%), Moldova coming before all the countries in the region, besides the Kosovo* region, where the ODA/GNI parity is about 10% (9.9%). 8 In Moldova, the unemployment rate is measured as the ratio of the people looking for a job to the total of labor force.
9 There are at least two preconditions for the existence of the sector skills councils. First of all the Government should be willing to initiate a dialogue with the sector representatives and the social partners, in general. Secondly, the sector employees and/or workers must associate, to be able to deliver their collective opinion. 10 According to DAC/OECD, „Grants and loans to countries and territories on the DAC list of ODA Recipients (developing countries) and to multilateral agencies which are: (a) undertaken by the official sector; (b) with promotion of economic development and welfare as the main objective; (c) at concessional financial terms (if a loan, having a grant element of at least 25 per cent). In addition to financial flows, technical co-operation is included in aid. Grants, loans and credits for military purposes are excluded. Transfer payments to private individuals (e.g. pensions, reparations or insurance payouts) are in general not counted”. * This does not refer to the status and is in line with the Resolution no. 1244 and ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo Declaration of Independence.
EXTERNAL ASSISTANCE STRUCTURE AND IMPLEMENTATION
STATUS IN 2012
152012 Annual Report on external assistance provided to the Republic of Moldova
Net ODA Receipts (million USD) GNI/CAP (e)
Population Current GNI
ODA/GNI
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2011 2011 2011 2011
USD mln. USD mln. percent %
EUROPA
Albania 307 363 357 341 307 3 980 3.22 12 900 2.38
Belarus 84 110 98 138 128 5 830 9.47 53 381 0.24
Bosnia and Herzegovina 599 467 414 510 425 4 780 3.75 18 316 2.32
Croatia 163 242 169 151 - - .. - -
Kosovo* - - 781 620 657 3 520 1.79 6 615 9.93
Macedonia, FYR 201 205 192 187 165 4 730 2.06 10 013 1.64
Republic of Moldova 266 298 244 470 451 1 980 3.56 7 568 5.96
Montenegro 106 105 75 80 74 7 060 0.63 4 586 1.61
Serbia 840 973 624 660 596 5 680 7.26 43 991 1.35
Turkey 792 1 116 1 362 1 047 839 10 410 73.64 765 842 0.11
Ukraine 420 618 666 626 750 3 120 45.71 161 449 0.46
Ex-Yugoslavia states, unspecified 55 51 17 18 17 - - - -
Europe, regional 501 830 742 1 008 945 - - - -
EUROPE, TOTAL 4 334 5 377 5 741 5 856 5 352 .. 151.09 .. .. *Această denumire nu aduce referință statutului, și este în conformitate cu rezoluția 1244 și Avizului CIJ privind declarația de Independență a Kosovo
After the change of government, when a new coalition - the Alliance for European Integration - came to power in September 2009, the new government asked from the international donor community support for the imple-mentation of the priority reforms for the country’s economic growth laid down in “Rethink Moldova” and at the Consultative Group Meeting “Moldova Partnership Forum” in Brussels in March 2010 it received pledges of 1.84 billion Euros (0.96 billion in grants (52%) and 0.88 billion in loans (48%) for the period of 2011-2013. By and large, the United States (through the USD 260 million Millennium Challenge Compact signed in 2010) became the Republic of Moldova’s largest bilateral development partner. Collectively, the European Union and the EU member states pledged 40% of the resources committed at the meeting.
Către finele anului 2012 peste 70% din resursele prevăzute în cadrul reuniunii din 2010 de la Bruxelles au fost
More than 70% of the funds committed at the meeting in Brussels in 2010 were disbursed by the end of 2012 for specific projects in different sectors of the national economy. Besides, Moldova received additional external funds amounting to about 800 million Euros. Therefore, the donor community provided to Moldova 2.6 billion Euros from 2010 to 2012 (40% more than the financial commitments made at the meeting in Brussels).
The estimated funds provided by donors in 2012 amounted to about 474 million Euros. According to the State Chancellery data (IDEA), the budget of the projects contracted in 2012 amounted to about 206 million Euros, while the disbursements reported by donors amounted to about 465 million Euros (about 98% of the estimated amount).
The cooperation between Moldova and the development partners has different forms – technical assistance, sup-port for different investment or social projects, budget support for the implementation of sector policies or support for maintenance of the state’s balance of payments.
The objectives of the cooperation between the Government of Moldova and the development partners are agreed and stated in the medium term cooperation framework agreements.
According to the available development cooperation data, the assistance for the implementation of projects ac-counts for the largest part (75%), followed by the sector budget support (about 17%), technical assistance and maintenance of the state’s balance of payments.
Given the budgetary constraints and the limited ability to cover the state debt, the Government’s preferred type of external assistance is the grants and/or preferential loans. The amount of external assistance under implementation in 2012 was, according to the State Chancellery database, about 1.1 billion Euros in the form of grants and 682,8
EXTERNAL ASSISTANCE STRUCTURE AND IMPLEMENTATION
STATUS IN 2012ODA received for the developing countries (Europe)Source: OECD statistics
16 2012 Annual Report on external assistance provided to the Republic of Moldova
mln. Euros in the form of loans. Therefore, in 2012 about 109.4 million Euros were received in the form of grants and 97.1 million Euros in the form of loans (EBRD, EIB, and WB). The active grants account for about 62% of the external assistance. In 2012 the grant – loan parity was 53% and 47% of the external assistance received in 2012.
The community of the development partners active in Moldova gathers together about 30 countries and organiza-tions and covers both multilateral (IFIs) and bilateral cooperation. The table below contains information by donors about the amount of the ongoing assistance in 2012, as well as the assistance contracted in 2012. The largest pro-vider of the ongoing financial assistance in 2012 is EU, followed by the Government of USA, WB, EIB, EBRD, the Government of Romania, UN, the Government of Sweden, the Government of Japan and the Government of the Swiss Confederation. In terms of the funds contracted in 2012 the largest development cooperation provider is also EU, followed by WB, EU’s financial institutions, UN, the U.S. Government, the Government of Austria, the Government of Sweden and the Government of the People’s Republic of China (bilateral).
Donor Ongoing (Euro) Contracted (Euro)European Union 488,349,915 52,685,902United States of America 292,546,224 21,726,235World Bank 321,887,911 40,326,516European Investment Bank 209,800,000 27,300,000European Bank for Reconstruction and Development 140,998,160 27,220,074Romania 102,816,169 478,169United Nations 85,770,655 1,692,866Kingdom of Sweden 52,332,996 6,041,493Japan 37,163,402 268,836Swiss Confederation 17,986,727 1,191,496Council of Europe Development Bank 13,400,000 13,400,000Austria 14,479,129 8,425,094Federal Republic of Germany 12,019,418 People’s Republic of China 11,247,024 4,739,024Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria 7,434,590
682.8
97.1 117.91
1137.9
109.4
232.5
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
Ongoing(2012) Contracted (2012) Disbursed (2012)
Soft loan (mln. EUR) Grant (mln. EUR)
Bugetul proiectelor aflate în derulare, contractate și debursate în 2012Sursa: AMP, Cancelaria de Stat, elaborat în baza informației raportate de Donatori și Ministerul Finanțelor.
172012 Annual Report on external assistance provided to the Republic of Moldova
Kingdom of the Netherlands 4,956,980
Liechtenstein 3,653,505 453,111Norway 1,582,154 International NGOs 944,474Turkey 560,008 556,008Slovakia 368,640 65,639Denmark 197,625 Council of Europe 108,000Czech Republic 96,266 96,266Italy 79,710Total 1,820,779,683 206,666,729
25.49%
19.51%
13.21% 13.17%
10.51%
6.48%
4.08%2.92%
2.29%
0.82%1.50%
European Union World Bank EuropeanInvestment
Bank
European Bankfor
Reconstructionand
Development
United States ofAmerica
Council ofEurope
DevelopmentBank
Austria Sweden People’s Republic of
China
United Nations Other
According to the principles of efficient development cooperation, the link of the assistance with the national pri-orities is critical for economic development and improvement of the standard of living. Over the last years the Government and the development partners had a good communication. Evidence is the results of the question-naires for two years in a row, which reveal that more than 90% of the ongoing projects are aligned with the nation-al development priorities. The efforts of both parties to increase the efficiency of the external assistance focused on the reduced fragmentation of projects and the balanced presence of the partners in different sectors. The evaluation of the presence of donors in the sectors described in the Government Action Plan shows the following breakdown – economic and financial policies (14), environment (11), healthcare and social issues (9 each), education, efficient civil service and rule of law (8 each), foreign policy and reintegration (5 each) and youth policies, culture and in-tegration of minorities (4 each). On the other hand, the donors are still scattered on different sectors (UN – 9, EU – 8, WB, Germany - 6), this hindering the coordination of the activities and achievement of specific results in the more difficult sector reforms.
AE în derulare și contractate în 2012 pe DonatoriSursa: AMP
Repartizarea pe donatori a sumelor contractate în 2012, în procenteSursa: AMP
18 2012 Annual Report on external assistance provided to the Republic of Moldova
The table below shows the breakdown of external assistance by sectors11. According to the ranking, the Transport and Storage, Government and Civil Society, Other Social Infrastructure, Agriculture and Business and Other Ser-vices are the top five sectors that account for about 78% of the ongoing external assistance. The assistance contract-ed in 2012 (about 206 million Euros) covers the Business and Other Services, Energy, Transport, Government and Civil Society and Agriculture, accounting for 81% of the total assistance amount. This indicates that the external assistance is channeled to investment projects for the economic sectors and important structural reforms. The projects contracted in 2012 are related to the implementation of the Competitiveness Enhancement Project (WB – 23 million Euros), rehabilitation of electric transport networks (EBRD, EIB – 32.6 million Euros), competitive agriculture (WB – 14 million Euros), construction of housing for the socially vulnerable categories (CEB – 13.4 million Euros), support of trust building measures between the Nistru banks (EU – 12 million Euros) and road rehabilitation in the Chisinau municipality (EBRD, EIB – 20 million Euros).
Sector Ongoing (Euro ) Contracted (Euro)Transport and storage 361,379,960 26,815,988Government and civil society 314,807,731 24,876,427Other social infrastructure and services 257,729,834 17,021,192Business and other services 223,397,122 43,916,006Agriculture 197,271,534 21,700,531Energy generation and supply 140,301,914 42,683,319Water and sanitation 109,372,487 2,742,568Health 105,759,747 8,269,667
Education 32,985,283 10,709,052
Multisector/Crosscutting 22,635,716 1,506,826Banking and financial services 22,075,980 - Industry 14,300,045 -Communication 7,109,945 422,322Tourism 3,789,913 3,380,693
Trade policy and regulations and trade-related adjustment 3,228,059 2,040,000
Humanitarian aid 1,786,115 -Population policies/health programs 1,249,823 59,468
11 Sectors used according to the OECD sector classification
2 2 2 2
3
2
4
8
3
6
3
2
3
1
3 3
1
5
1 1
9
4
6
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Total number of sectors covered by donorsSource: State Chancellery, based on the CPA inputs
192012 Annual Report on external assistance provided to the Republic of Moldova
Refugees in donor countries 1,192,839 117,030Construction 405,639 405,639Grand Total 1,820,779,683 206,666,729
3.2 Financing Modality
The commitment of Moldova to the Paris Declaration principles on aid effectiveness (ownership, alignment, har-monization, delivering for results and mutual accountability) translates into a strong focus (i) on national and sector development planning and budgeting, (ii) leadership in aid coordination, (iii) improvement of its systems and procedures to ensure efficient, transparent and cost-effective allocation and implementation of resources and (iv) mutual responsibility for results and for monitoring progress. It also leads to a preference for participation in sector approaches and for budget support instead of project approach.
A sector approach is a way of working together between Government, development partners and other key sector stakeholders. It is a process aiming at broadening government and national ownership over public sector policy and resource allocation decisions within the sector, increasing the coherence between policy, spending and results, and reducing transaction costs. The sector approach serves as a coordination framework for government’s own activities and for donor support which may take different forms, including projects, technical assistance and budget support.
The EU aid instrument for providing sector support to Moldova is known as a Sector Policy Support Programme (SPSP) complementing the budget support with targeted technical assistance, including Twinning, TAIEX and SIGMA instruments.
Ongoing and contracted EA in 2012 by sectorsSource: AMP
Breakdown of contracted assistance by sectors in 2012, % of the totalSource: AMP
250 - BUSINESS AND OTHER SERVICES
21%
230 - ENERGY GENERATION AND SUPPLY
21%
210 - TRANSPORT AND STORAGE
13%
150 - GOVERNMENT AND CIVIL SOCIETY
12%
311 - AGRICULTURE11%
160 - OTHER SOCIAL INFRASTRUCTURE AND
SERVICES8%
110 - EDUCATION5%
120 - HEALTH4%
332 - TOURISM2%
140 - WATER AND SANITATION
1%OTHER
2%
20 2012 Annual Report on external assistance provided to the Republic of Moldova
The sector programs, besides the EU budget support programs, are implemented in the transport sector, where a number of partners (WB, U.S. Government through the MCC Compact, EU and the European financial insti-tutions – EBRD, EIB) provide support for the rehabilitation of the road networks in Moldova. The EU and its member countries, the Government of Sweden and UN support the Government of Moldova in the implemen-tation of the central and local public administration reform and institutional building of the Moldovan public administration.
Large infrastructure projects are also implemented in the water supply and health sectors with the joint support of the development partners (EU, EIB, WB, Government of Austria, EBRD etc.).
Budget SupportMoldova’s favored financing modality is budget support, but in certain circumstances the best available option may be project support or pooled/trust funding with other donors.
The EU and WB are the only providers of budget support to Moldova.
The EU budget support assistance in 2007-2013 covers the following sectors: (i) Social, (ii) Health, (iii) Water and Sanitation, (iv) Rural development, (v) Energy, (vi) Justice, (vii) VET and (viii) Mobility and Security - Visa Liberalization.
In 2012 four sector budget support programs were implemented with the EU support and one program was im-plemented with the World Bank support.
The World Bank’s budget support provided to Moldova in 2012 (30 mln. USD) and targeting the reforms aiming at economic growth and poverty reduction aimed to:
- Increase the productivity and bring in new investments for exports by improving the investment climate;
- Facilitate the access to funds for investments.
As for the policy actions agreed with the WB to achieve the program objectives, the Government has made sig-nificant progress in the implementation of the reform agenda. In some sectors, as agriculture, investment climate and productivity, the reform program has made significant progress, while others are underway. The law packages passed by the Parliament in 2012 in order to align the national legislation with the EU legislation in terms of tech-nical regulations, standardization, state control, state aid, competition etc. are meant to improve dramatically the investment climate in Moldova. Similarly, the law on the payment services and the electronic currency, implemen-tation of the international reporting standards by the licensed commercial banks and the new law on the capital market aim to facilitate the access to finance for investments.
The sector budget support programs, implemented in 2012 with the EU financial support, targeted the health, water and sanitation sectors, economic stimulation in the rural areas and the energy sector.
In the health sector, where the only sector program was at its final stage, relevant activities were carried out, in particular related to the monitoring and evaluation of the health system, enhancement of the role of cooperation in the public-private partnerships, implementation of the HR plan in the health sector, tobacco control activities, as well as increased transparency of procurements in the health sector. The program, in general, was implemented successfully, and all the policy measures agreed in its policy matrix were carried out. Therefore, additional funds were provided for the Program (6 mln.Euros) in November 2012 for fitting out the public health laboratories in the Moldovan public health centers and the Medical Simulation Center of Nicolae Testimiteanu State Medicine and Pharmacy University in Chisinau.
The water supply and sanitation sector support program made less progress in 2012 in the delivery on the com-mitments laid down in the policy matrix agreed by the EU and the Government of Moldova. The purpose of the program was to support the country in the implementation of reforms in the water supply and sanitation sector, providing financial and technical assistance for priority activities and the political dialogue in this sector that is so important for the population and environment.
The evaluation of the sector policy measures by the EU experts revealed that 65% of the commitments were achieved. While significant progress was made in relation to the system extensions and expansion of the access of the people to water, promotion of the market economy principles and the environment protection measures, im-provement of the internal and external control, the central and local public authorities are expected to make more efforts in order to decentralize the water supply and sanitation services, to improve the medium-term planning, the social dialogue and public procurement, where significant gaps were found.
212012 Annual Report on external assistance provided to the Republic of Moldova
The economic stimulation in the rural areas is another budget support program implemented with the EU support. In 2012 the policy measures, aimed to develop the economic development capacities at local level and facilitate the access to financial instruments, helped increase the number of start-ups and jobs in the rural areas. The capi-talization of NPEEY, PARE 1+1, the ODIMM Guarantee Fund and AIPA contributed to more than 330 grants provided for more than 220 start-ups and creation of more than 300 jobs. To develop the support infrastructure for businesses, the program contributed to the opening of three additional incubators in Moldova (Stefan Voda, Leova and Rezina) and preparation for the launch of another two incubators in 2013 (Singerei, Cosnita). This program also addressed issues related to the gender dimension in the development policies of the national SMEs, development of the business training skills in the vocational schools, regional development policies, as well as bud-get planning and public finance management.
Due to the successful implementation of the planned policy measures EU provided additional resources to the program (14 mln. Euros, December 2012).
Energy sector also received EU budget support for reforms and improvement of the technical operation of the sector. Since the agreement was signed in December 2011, the first year of the program implementation was 2012. Revision of the Energy Sector Development Strategy up to 2030, approval of the National Energy Efficiency Pro-gram, creation of the one stop shop for the investors in the energy sector, alignment with the EU legislation, as well as the development of the institutional capacities and the skills of staff are specific steps made as part of the program implementation. These policy measures enabled to achieve quantitative results – implementation of about 197 energy efficiency projects, using new technologies which allow for saving public funds, and ten energy audits of public buildings.
Since the implementation of the EU sector budget support programs started in 2007 the amount of such projects has been about 298 mln. Euros so far. The budget support programs covered by the 2011-2013 NIP12 account for 53% of the total amount of 148.6 mln. Euros, including the technical assistance.
The table below contains information about the EU budget support programs
PNA Anual Sector
BSP ComponentsAddendum / additional BSP amount mln. EUR
New BSP com-
ponent mln. EUR
Statut
Disbur-sed in
previous year mln. EUR
Disbursed in 2012 Planned
disburse-ment in
2013 mln. EUR
mln. EUR mln. EUR
Original total allo-
cationPSB AT și alte
acțiuniPlan-ned Actual
1. 2007 Social PSB 1 0 20 Completed 20 - - -
2. 2008 HealthTA and other
actions43.45 3.15 6 49.45 Ongoing 38.97 4.48 4.14 6
3. 2009 Water and sanitation 45 37 8* 5 42 Ongoing 15 14 12.03 13
4. 2010Economic
stimulation in rural areas
45 42 3 14 56 Ongoing 25.85 13 3.15 13
5. 2011 Energy 42.6 40 2.6* 0 40 Ongoing 13 13 0 13
6. 2012 Justice reform 52 50.2 1.8 8 58.2 Signed FA 0 0 0 15
7. 2013 VET 25* - - - - Under preparation - - - -
8. 2013Mobility and security re-
form21* - - - - Under
preparation - - - -
TOTAL 298.2 232.65 19.55 33 265.65 112.82 44.48 19.32 60
As already mentioned above, the Government’s preferred type of assistance is the grants and the concessional funds. Additionally, the application of the national systems for external assistance use helps reduce the transac-tion costs of assistance and build the capacities for the use of assistance, using the national funds management systems. The implementation of the budget support programs is fully in line with what has been mentioned above. Therefore, it should be noted that about 95% of the amounts allocated for EU BSP were used.
12 NIP 2011-2013 –MEUR 281.14 (including MEUR 8 of more for more) * Planned amount
EU ENPI Budget Support Program in MoldovaSource: State Chancellery
22 2012 Annual Report on external assistance provided to the Republic of Moldova
The budget support is complemented with targeted technical assistance, where technical assistance is a valuable tool for providing policy advice and/or expert advice, thereby supporting the development of the national capaci-ties with a focus on ‘learning by doing’ at organizational and/or individual levels. Where possible, the management of technical assistance is integrated in the national structures and designed to complement, not substitute, the national expertise with mechanisms in place through which knowledge and know-how can be transferred to per-manent staff. In Moldova a provision is made in each SPSP programme budget, within the budget support com-ponent, for recruitment of technical assistance. For example, in the Justice and VET sectors a substantial provision was made outside the budget support components to provide TA (judicial reform - MEUR 10, VET – MEUR 5)
for the preparation of policy documents, capacity building and improved sector coordination.
The multilateral approach in the form of multi-donor trust funds for the country allows the priorities of the national government to be taken into account, together with the development partners’ priorities. Multi-donor trust interventions, including project-based ones, directly contribute to the implementation of existing national programmes and strategies. Two multi-donor trust funds assist the Moldovan authorities in achieving its strategic goals: (i) the multi-donor trust fund managed by the World Bank for the implementation of the Central Public Administration Reform and (ii) the Neighborhood Investment Facility (NIF), which is blending grants from the EU budget with loans from multilateral European development banks like EIB, EBRD and CEB, as well as the contributions from the partner countries. It supports infrastructure projects in the transport, energy, social and environment sectors, as well as private sector initiatives (in particular SMEs) in the EU Neighborhood region.
The bulk of external assistance provided by the donor community to Moldova is technical assistance in support of the national reform agenda. In 2012 the technical assistance was used by development partners to build the insti-tutional capacities of the central public authorities, to prepare studies, strategies, tender documentation, provide consulting services, etc. to support the implementation of the Government Activity Program. Technical assistance in the form of grants is a key instrument for improving the quality of lending operations towards investment and enhancing their development impact. It is an integral part of the appraisal and implementation process for devel-opment banks loans, and provides the analytical data needed to understand the economic and financial develop-
2007/Social 2008/Health 2009/Water and Sanitation 2010/Economic stimulationin rural areas
2011/Energy 2012/Justice Reform0
10
20
30
40
50
60
BSP Additional Funding Disbursed Commited
Budget Support ProgramsSource: State Chancellery
232012 Annual Report on external assistance provided to the Republic of Moldova
ment issues of the partner countries.
Despite the noticeable increase of budget support allocations within the overall portfolio of external assistance (from 21 mln. Euros in 2007 to 83 mln. Euros) in the past several years, the technical assistance will keep a signif-icant share in the total structure of external assistance in the forthcoming years. The investment support provided by the development partners (EBRD, EIB, WB, CEB, USA, EU etc.) for the implementation of large infrastruc-ture projects – rehabilitation of power networks and roads, infrastructure development in agriculture, construction of housing for the socially vulnerable groups, as well as conservation of the cultural patrimony, accounted for about 129 mln. Euros in 2012 (63% of the total amount).
The EU Neighborhood Investment Facility provides funding to infrastructure investment in transport, energy (with a focus on renewable energy and energy efficiency), water and sanitation, environment and social sectors, as well as to the financial and private sectors, with a focus on SMEs. In 2012 NIF approved to provide EUR 11 million of grants for the rehabilitation of power networks, modernization of the public transport and rehabilitation of roads.
3.3. Overview of Donor Support in 2012
This section of the report makes a very brief overview of the support provided by the top 10 development partners to Moldova in 2012.
Moldova is among the top ten countries in Europe (the sixth) by development cooperation received, with a 7% average of all the assistance provided to the region for 2009-2011, followed by Albania, Macedonia, Belarus and Croatia.
2009 2010 2011 3-year average % of all recipients
1 Turkey 1362 1047 839 1083 19%
2 Kosovo* 781 620 657 686 12%
3 Ukraine 666 626 750 681 12%
4 Serbia 624 660 596 627 11%
5 Bosnia and Herzegovina 414 510 425 450 8%
6 Republic of Moldova 244 470 451 388 7%
7 Albania 357 341 307 335 6%
8 Macedonia 192 187 165 181 3%
9 Belarus 98 138 128 121 2%
10 Croatia 169 151 _ 107 2%
Other beneficiaries 834 1106 1035 992 18%
Total ODA beneficiaries 5741 5856 5352 5650 100%* This does not refer to the status and is in line with the Resolution no. 1244 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo Declaration of Independence
According to the data delivered by the development partners and the Ministry of Finance, about 465 million Eu-ros were disbursed as external assistance, while other 322 million Euros and 213 million Euros were planned for 2013 and 2014, accordingly. The availability of full information about the disbursed and planned assistance for the following years is an internationally agreed principle meant to ensure the transparency of the information and pre-dictability of the development cooperation. Unfortunately, the collection of information is still difficult, one of the reasons being the consolidation of the annual financial data of the development partners and their central offices.
Top 10 external assistance recipients in Europe Source: OECD/DAC statistics
24 2012 Annual Report on external assistance provided to the Republic of Moldova
Development Partner Number of ongo-ing projects
Disbursed in 2012 MEUR
Planned for
2013
MEUR
Planned for
2014
MEUR
1 Austria 16 8.54 2.40 2.60
2 European Council Development Bank - 3.80 3.73 4.71
3 Czech Republic 16 2.87 - -
4 European Bank for Reconstruction and Development - 8.13 18.25 40.40
5 European Investment Bank - 27.84 27.56 52.29
6 Estonia - 0.49 0.50 0.70
7 European Union - 85.94 100.35 -
8 Japan - 1.36 - -
9 Holland - 3.50 - -
10 Federal Republic of Germany - 5.37 - -
11 Finland 23 12.00 14.00 16.00
12 France 182 1.15 1.35 -
13 Hungary 8 0.62 - -
14 International Monetary Fund 114.92 - -
15 Liechtenstein 6 0.92 0.97 0.65
16 Lithuania 12 0.85 0.53 -
17 Poland 21 1.02 - -
18 Romania 14 14.00 - -
19 Sweden 25 13.00 12.80 8.00
20 Swiss Confederation 11 5.80 7.40 8.70
21 Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tubercu-losis and Malaria 1 5.00 1.20 1.20
22 United Nations 98 30.80 31.40 17.70
23 Turkey 21 1.14 2.60 -
24 United States of America 14 35.59 57.42 40.19
25 Slovakia 18 0.12 0.29 -
26 People’s Republic of China 6 6.61 6.23 -
27 World Bank 23 70.64 33.04 20.07
28 Other - 3.32 - -
TOTAL 515 465.33 322.01 213.21
Disbursed and planned assistanceSource: State Chancellery, based on the inputs from donors and Ministry of Finance
252012 Annual Report on external assistance provided to the Republic of Moldova
If one looks at the amount of external assistance against macroeconomic indicators, one can see the ratio of the external funds to the foreign direct investments or remittances, as well as the share of such funds in GDP and in the incomes to the National Public Budget. It should be noted that the amount of the remittances in 2012 (2010 for comparison) is three times higher than the external assistance, while the Foreign Direct Investments are by one third less than the external assistance. The share of ODA disbursed in 2012 in GDB continues to be 8.26% and about 21.65% of the current incomes to the National Public Budget.
European Union. The key assistance instrument used by the EU in Moldova is the European Neighborhood Policy Instrument (ENPI) - a financial instrument that supports the European Neighborhood Policy (ENP) and the Eastern Partnership (EaP) initiatives covering specific assistance actions for the neighboring countries.
In 2012 the European Union continued to assist the Government of Moldova (within the 2011-2013 NIP) in the implementation of the EU-Moldova ENP Action Plan to en-shrine the European values and respect for human rights into the fabric of Moldova’s institutions and political life.
The 2011-2013 EU National Indicative Programme (signed in March 2010) pro-vides an envelope of about 273 MEUR for reforms in three sectors agreed by the par-ties: (i) good governance, rule of law and fundamental liberties; (ii) human and so-cial development; (iii) trade and sustainable development. The chart depicts the initial financial distribution among these sectors and the use of these funds. Therefore, about 194 MEUR (71% of the total amount) are committed for sector (i), about 30 MEUR (11%) for sector (ii) and about 49 MEUR (18%) for sector (iii).
External assistance in the macroeconomic context, MEURSource: State Chancellery, based on the reports by donors and Ministry of Finance
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200
Disbursed EA
Remittances
Foreign Direct Investments
448
937.29
151.8
465.33
1162.19
122.5
2012 2010
Evolution of the European Union funds allocated to Moldova Source: State Chancellery
50
66
78.6
122.2
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
2009 2010 2011 2012
26 2012 Annual Report on external assistance provided to the Republic of Moldova
Within the 2012 national envelope the EU allocations originally were EUR 94.2 million. Then, in recognition of Moldova’s outstanding performance to carry out structural reforms to improve respect of democratic standards and the creation of a functioning market economy, the EU by using the Eastern Partnership Integration and Coop-eration (EaPIC) programme has significantly increased its bilateral assistance budget by 30% bringing it to EUR 122 million.
Astfel, alocațiile PNA pentru 2012 prevăd13 52,2 mln .de euro pen-tru Programul de suport bugetar în sectorul The national envelope for 2012 allocates13 EUR 52.2 million to the Justice Sector Reform Budget Support programme, EUR 30 million to the Support for the Implementation of the EU-Moldova Agreements programme (phase II of the CIB Programme, Twinning and TA projects), EUR 7 million to the Regional Development Pilot Programme and EUR 5 million to the preparation of Vocational Education Sector Budget Support pro-gramme. Additional allocations (28 MEUR) by the EU were chan-neled to the ongoing programs in the health and justice sectors and economic stimulation in the rural areas. In 2012 the EU disbursements from the national envelope and mac-rofinancial assistance (30 MEUR) to Moldova amounted to almost 56 MEUR. In 2012 the EU signed eight financing agreements (for details see Annex C).
Five sector budget support programmes, with a budget of about 200 mln Euros, were implemented in 2012 and the preparation for the next BSP for NAAP 2013 started with an estimated 46 mln Euros for vocational education and mobility and security reforms.Other 8 Twinning projects were underway in 2012; three were completed in 2012, four were launched and oth-
13 Din cauza procedurilor administrative ale Comisiei Europene, fondurile UE angajate sunt debursate cu o întârziere de unu-trei ani.
73.225 42.6
40
10
57
70.35
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
200
Governance Social Trade
Support to the EU-Moldova Agreements Technical Assitance Sector
Confidence Building Measures Budget Support Programme
Good governance, rule of law
and fundamental freedoms
Human and social development
Trade and sustainable
development35 – 40%
95 – 109 mln. EUR
25 – 30%68 – 82 mln. EUR
35 – 40%95 – 109 mln. EUR
2011-2013 National Indicative Programme, initial provisions and allocations according to the financial agreements signed MEURSource: State Chancellery
„…Adding other EU assistance funds to these grants we stand at EUR 41 per capita - the highest level of support in the European Neighborhood! In the last six years the EU’s financial support has increased by five times, from EUR 25 million in 2006 to EUR 122 million in 2012!!” (José Ma-nuel Barroso, President of the Eu-ropean Commission in Chisinau on 30 November 2012)
272012 Annual Report on external assistance provided to the Republic of Moldova
er five projects were at the preparation stage. The TAIEX instrument was one of the favorite tools of the public institutions in Moldova, which took part in 87 events, which benefited 1244 civil servants. In the meantime, the central public administration reform, the modernization of the public procurement and public internal control systems were supported through three SIGMA projects. Besides the national programme, Moldova benefits from other EU programmes and instruments: east-regional (e.g., TRACECA, INOGATE), inter-regional (Neighborhood Investment Facility - NIF, TAIEX, SIGMA, CIU-DAD, TEMPUS and Erasmus Mundus), cross-border cooperation (Moldova-Romania-Ukraine and Black Sea), transnational cooperation (South-East Europe), specific (e.g., Investing in People, Migration and Asylum, Non-State Actors and Local Authorities), EU internal programs (e.g., FP-7) and other.
World Bank. The current portfolio of the World Bank included 13 investment projects amounting to USD 329.5 mln. net commitments. The AID portfolio covers almost all the sectors, but most of the activities are in infrastructure, HR development and rural development. WB also manages a substantial portfolio of the Trust Fund for Moldova, which at the beginning of the calendar year 2012 amounted to 76.4 million USD – the largest budget in the region of Europe and Central Asia.
In 2012 the cooperation with WB continued as part of the 2009-2012 Country Partnership Strategy focusing on the improvement of the economic competitiveness, mitigation of the social and environmental risks, consolidation of the human capital, promotion of the social inclusion and improvement of the public sector governance.
As far as transparency is concerned, the cooperation with the World Bank may be considered the most efficient in terms of the openness of the WB information. Moldova is the first country to sign the Open Data Agreement with the WB (April 2012), which provides for the free access of development cooperation data. The information about funding agreements, the financing conditions and the financial data on project implementation are available on the World Bank’s official websites. Therefore, anyone can get any information about the use of the public funds in the implementation of different investment or development projects.
The four projects approved in 2012 support the implementation of reforms for investments in agriculture, educa-tion and competitiveness enhancement.
In 2012 the WB started preparing a new 2014–2017 Country Partnership Strategy (CPS), which will further support Moldova in boosting prosperity and reducing poverty by capturing the full benefits of openness and inte-gration with the EU and the broader global economy. Three pillars are proposed that will help Moldova diversify and expand its institutional, human and natural capital: (i) Increasing Competitiveness, (ii) Enhancing Human Capital and Minimizing Social Risks and (iii) Promoting a Green, Clean, and Resilient Moldova.
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, European Invest-ment Bank, Council of Europe Devel-opment Bank. EBRD and EIB are two of the most active development partners in infrastructure investments in Moldova. Their support helped implement a number of road infrastructure, transport, water supply and sanitation projects and projects in other sectors. In 2012 two major projects were signed - critical for Moldova and Chisinau municipality, with a total budget of 52.6 MEUR. The first project targets the rehabilitation of the power networks of the SE “Moldelectri-ca” and its objective is to consolidate the regional intercon-nections and development of the regional trade in the energy sector, thus facilitating the integration of Moldova into the European Network of Transmission Systems Operators for Electricity (ENTSO-E). EBRD is active in energy efficiency and opened two credit lines in 2012 for the private sector.
Source: State Chancellery, based on the reports by donors and Ministry of Finance0
50,000,000
100,000,000
150,000,000
200,000,000
Integral (mln. EUR) Capital Investments (mln. EUR)
Total Budget EBRD/EIB/CEB
28 2012 Annual Report on external assistance provided to the Republic of Moldova
CEB is present in Moldova in particular through social infrastructure projects and also contributed to the reha-bilitation of the Republican Hospital. The first phase of the housing project for the socially vulnerable groups was completed and the MEUR 20.3 financing agreement for its second phase was signed in 2012, where the CEB loan accounts for MEUR 13.4. The arrangements for the feasibility studies for the launch of a new human rights project started by improving the detention conditions.
Sweden. In 2012 Sweden was the largest European bilateral donor for Moldova implementing projects in three sectors: 1) democracy, human rights and gender equality; 2) sustainable infrastructure, with a focus on energy and 3) market development. In Moldova, Sweden supports programs through SIDA, with country allocation of about 13 mln. Euros per year and with a special allocation for NGOs amounting to about 812 thousand Euros per year.
It should be noted that the Government of Sweden pays a special attention to the human rights and gender equal-ity dimensions and it is the only development partner that supports programs that directly target the involvement of women in politics, social and business sectors. In 2012 different programs were launched targeting women meant to increase their leadership skills and the knowledge required to start businesses.
Sixteen projects with a total budget of 36.8 million Euros are underway.
United States of America. The assistance provided by the U.S. Government continues to support the transition of Moldova to a transparent and participatory state governed by the rule of law and with a functional market economy. The programs implemented with the support of the U.S. Embassy, USAID and MCC contribute to fighting corruption and transnational crime, including trafficking in human beings, development of agriculture and road rehabilitation, economic growth and improvement of central and local governments.
The MCC’s largest ongoing projects – road rehabilitation project and transition to high value agriculture project started the works on the sites in 2012. Other three projects aimed at improving the private sector and economic growth, supporting the local government and enhancing the law-enforcement institutions were allocated addition-al 9 mln. Euros.
Therefore, according to the IDEA data, there were 26 ongoing projects in 2012 with a total budget of about 278 mln. Euros (including MCC) and other 21 projects started in 2012 with a total budget of about 16 mln. Euros.
Breakdown of funds by sectorsSource: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sweden in cooperation with the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency
292012 Annual Report on external assistance provided to the Republic of Moldova
United Nations Organization. One of the most active advocates of the development policies for poverty eradication and human rights is the UN team in Moldova. Completion of the 2013-2017 UN-Moldova Partnership Framework is one of its major successes in 2012 achieved in concert with the UN. This document was drafted jointly by the UN Country Team and the Government of Moldova following large consultations with other partners with the purpose to support the country’s efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals and the European integration goal. This process reveals the increased capacity of the Government to take the lead in defining the development agenda and the availability of the development partners to cooperate to make the development aid more efficient.
The ongoing projects implemented with the UN support in 2012 targeted the priority sectors that were laid down in the 2007-2012 United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF), more specifically (i) good gov-ernance, rule of law, equal access to justice, human rights; (ii) fair and guaranteed access to the basic services and (iii) regional and local development.
Given the flexibility and the large presence of the UN entities in Moldova, UN is implementing projects as an im-plementing entity for other international and multilateral organizations. Therefore, in 2012 UN implemented the “Energy and Biomass in Moldova” project funded by the EU; the Joint Integrated Local Development Programme, with the support of the Government of Sweden; the Institutional Building Project funded by the Government of Romania; the “Improvement of irrigation systems to support small farmers” project with the support of the Gov-ernment of Hungary and other.
Overall, 98 projects amounting to about 50.5 mln. USD were underway in 2012 in cooperation with the UN agencies.
Federal Republic of Germany. The Government of the Federal Republic of Germany supports the implementation of the structural reforms and improvement of local infrastructure in Moldova. The sectors in which the Government of Germany implemented five projects amounting to about 12.9 mln. Euros in 2012 are agriculture, education and regional development. Following the visit of the Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel to Chisinau, the German development cooperation increased with about 19 mln. Euros allocated for further imple-mentation of infrastructure projects in the country’s development regions.
People’s Republic of China. Over the last years the Government of the People’s Republic of China has been active in supporting the efforts of the Government of Moldova to achieve its goals, in particular in the IT and health sectors, by providing modern equipment. In 2012 Beijing provided to Moldova assistance amounting to 6.6 mln. Euros, 4.7 mln. Euros of which were used to procure PCs for the student hostels and traffic monitoring.
The support of the Government of Austria facilitated the access to concessional loans. It allocated 7.5 mln. Euros for improvement of health services at the Republican Hospital of Moldova.
Breakdown of funds by sectorsSource: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sweden in cooperation with the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency
Funds planned for disbursement by USA for MoldovaSource: State Chancellery, based on the reports by donors and Ministry of Finance
15.7
21.4 22.3
37.2
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
2009 2010 2011 2012
30 2012 Annual Report on external assistance provided to the Republic of Moldova
On January 14, 2011 the Parliament of Moldova took a confidence vote for the Government and its Activity Program. The new Government committed to continue the actions started by its predecessor, which was also man-dated by the parliamentary majority called Alliance for European Integration. These actions focus on the contin-uous democratization and economic recovery of the country, its integration in the EU and building a prosperous country governed by genuine rule of law.
The Government Activity Program “European Integration: Freedom, Democracy, Welfare” provides a framework for the government policies for 2011-2014. The program’s strategic vision is people’s welfare. The major objectives to achieve this strategic vision are improvement of the standard of living and European integration.
To achieve these major goals in 2012 the Government continued its actions aimed at improving the people’s social protection, economic development, consolidation of the rule of law, creating new jobs, building the relations with the external partners, bringing in investments, visa cancellation and others so as to create a better life for the people.
The external assistance provided to Moldova has a similar goal – to support the implementation of the national de-velopment programs and contribute to the economic growth and improvement of people’s lives. The trend among the development partners in recent years in the context of the efforts to make development cooperation more ef-ficient is to align the support with the Government’s development priorities. Therefore, the national development strategies are drafted in a participatory manner, following consultations with all the partners and the donors’ sup-port strategies are largely consulted and agreed with the government, in order to make the expected results more efficient. The evaluation of the external assistance provided to Moldova versus the Government Action Plan found that only 40% of the actions laid down in the latter have external assistance support for implementation. This means that the other actions are funded from the Government’s budget.
STRATEGIC PRIORITIES FOR EXTERNAL ASSISTANCE IN 2012 BASED ON THE 2011-2014 GOVERNMENT
ACTIVITY PROGRAM (GAP)
Covered, 186, 40%
Not covered, 277, 60%
Covered
Not covered
Strategic priorities for external assistance in 2012 based on 2011-2014 GAPSource: State Chancellery
312012 Annual Report on external assistance provided to the Republic of Moldova
If we look at the priorities of the Government Program, we can see that most of the external assistance is provided in areas like accountable and efficient administration, foreign policy, country reintegration, environment protec-tion, while less external assistance is provided for culture policies, youth policies, education and research, economic and financial policies etc.
The following sub-chapters make an overview of the progress achieved with the foreign assistance support in the implementation of the 2011-2014 Government Activity Program.
4.1. Building the Rule of LawGovernment Action Plan objectives
To build the rule of law, the Government aims to safeguard the human rights by eradicating torture, inhuman and degrading treatment, the trafficking in human beings and domestic violence; secure free access to justice and a fair trial; guarantee the freedom of expression and access to information and others. All these goals can be achieved through the reform of the justice system and prosecution, which aims to create an independent, unbiased, func-tional and transparent judiciary. To safeguard the public order and security and enhance the national anti-cor-ruption system, the Government committed to reform the relevant institutions to align them to the European and international standards. The Government’s Action Plan provides for the development of an appropriate legal framework that will improve the cooperation between the civil society and the public sector, as well as liberalize the media space and guarantee freedom of expression.
External assistance in 2012
In 2012 there were 37 ongoing projects aimed at building the rule of law and supported by the development part-ners, 17 of which were started in the reported period.
The rule of law was supported significantly by the development partners, especially through the completion of the negotiations and approval of the largest budget support that Moldova has received from the European Union. More specifically, to help Moldova achieve its European integration goal, Brussels provided the most impressive assistance to reform the justice sector. The EU support for this sector amounts to about 70 mln. Euros. The larg-est part of these funds were provided through budget support, while the other part is provided through technical assistance for the coordination of strategy implementation, efficiency, accountability and transparency of courts and improvement of the execution and probation systems – crucial elements for a judiciary compliant with the
Strategic priorities for external assistance in 2012 based on the 2011-2014 Government Activity Program (GAP)Source: State Chancellery
76.3%
9.4%
35.0%
28.1%
60.7%
31.6%37.5%
63.2%
37.5%
23.7%
90.6%
65.0%
71.9%
39.3%
68.4%62.5%
36.8%
62.5%
0.0%
10.0%
20.0%
30.0%
40.0%
50.0%
60.0%
70.0%
80.0%
90.0%
100.0%
Accountable andefficient
administration
Culture/youth andsport
policies/Integration ofnational minorities
Building rule of law Education andresearch
Foreign Policy/Country reintegration
Economic andfinancial policies
Social policies Environmentalprotection
Health of population
Covered Not covered
32 2012 Annual Report on external assistance provided to the Republic of Moldova
European standards.
Besides EU, other donors such as USAID, UNDP, CEB, and the Government of Romania also contributed to building the rule of law in Moldova. They all provided inputs in the Government’s efforts to achieve its goals relat-ed to human rights, justice reform, public order, and fight against corruption.
The feasibility study for the construction of a new penitentiary with a capacity of about 1600 detainees was con-ducted with CEB support, and this will enable Moldova align the detention standards to the standards recom-mended by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). The latter appreciated the transformation started in the justice system, as they believe that only this way the human rights will be respected in the penitentiary insti-tutions.
The implementation of the Rule of Law Institutional Strengthening Program started in 2012 with the U.S. sup-port. It is expected to help build the institutional and operational capacities of the Superior Council of Magistrates and of the Legal Administration Department, by increasing the efficiency, transparency and accountability of the judiciary system.
The rehabilitation of the Penitentiary no.10 also started in 2012 with the support of the development partners. This project is expected to change the entire juvenile correction system, by shifting from detention to the child-fo-cused environment with education, therapeutic and vocational activities.
Public order is one of the key prerogatives of any democracy and to support it USA provided funds for video surveillance systems and CPS-monitoring of 80 vehicles of the National Patrol Inspectorate, as well as for procure-ment of two data storage servers. All these things significantly contribute to the reformation and demilitarization of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, according to the EU security standards. To monitor the road traffic round the clock, increase the responsibility of the road users and prevent corruption among road police officers by excluding the direct contact with the road users, Moldova started implementing the project supported by the People’s Re-public of China for provision of road traffic monitoring and control equipment for the Chisinau municipality. The system will monitor 47 crossroads in the Chisinau municipality and the national access roads and will capture the violations of the traffic rules in an automated and ongoing manner. This project will reduce the number of road accidents and will help achieve the e-Governance goal.
To make sure the Border Police Department reorganized in 2012 is fully operational, the first phase of the project for development of the fixed and mobile communications network at state border was completed with the EU sup-port, and consequently telecommunications nodes were installed in 40 localities (28 towers were built) both on the territory of the Border Police units and outside it. This project also built the relay infrastructure, covered the bor-der area, put in place the intranet for data transmission, and installed a video surveillance system for the territory covered by the Border Police units and its own VoiP landline. In the meantime the projects’ second phase started.
4.2 Economic and Financial Policies
Government Action Plan objectives
The major objectives of the Government of Moldova related to the economic and financial policies are to remove the administrative constraints on the private sector, encourage the technological development of businesses, de-velop the support infrastructure for businesses; fully align the specific regulations in the sectors of the national economy with the European ones and implement them; ensure the stability of the national public budget; create a predictable budgetary-fiscal framework and maintain the budget deficit at a reasonable level; modernize agriculture and reduce its dependence on the adverse climate factors; rehabilitate and modernize the transport infrastructure, in particular the road infrastructure; connect to the pan-European networks.
External assistance in 2012
The development partners supported 20 ongoing projects in 2012, five of which started in the reported period.
Private Sector. A reference to estimate the outcomes of the policy measures implemented by the Government with the support of the development partners can be the WB 2013 Doing Business in a More Transparent World Report, according to which the Republic of Moldova went three places up and was ranked 83rd out of 185 coun-tries in the world. In comparison with the countries in the region, Moldova was before Ukraine (ranked 137) and the Russian Federation (ranked 112), and below Romania (ranked 72). In the Heritage Foundation Economic Freedom Index 2013, Moldova has made a significant leap from 124 to 115 out of 177 countries.
332012 Annual Report on external assistance provided to the Republic of Moldova
The implementation of the Guillotine 2+ project continued in 2012 with the USAID support. It aims at detecting and addressing the bureaucratic constraints. Additionally, the laws passed last year aim to simplify the entrepre-neurship authorization procedures, prevent any abusive intervention in business by regulating the state control, simplify the insolvency procedure etc. The new program BRITE started in November 2012 aims at simplifying the customs clearance procedures to facilitate the foreign trade.
The EUHLPAM project (European Union High Level Policy Advice Mission) contributed to enhancing coop-eration at the external border of the EU with the Romanian customs authorities; putting in place control and cooperation mechanisms in order to prevent and mitigate smuggling; facilitating the passenger traffic; building the capacity of the Customs Service for the implementation of the European customs standards in areas like simplifi-cation of customs procedures, risk analysis, customs value, experience exchange with the EU customs authorities in the priority areas for the Customs Service. The joint control exercise at the Briceni-Rossosani border checkpoint in Ukraine started in February 2012. The working groups and sub-groups created to fight the trans-border crime, in particular, with cigarettes, drugs and weapons, continued their work.
In June 2012 the Parliament passed the law on the state aid which aligns the Moldovan legislation with the EU acquis, and in July it passed the new competition law, which regulates the antitrust and fusion policy and is also in close compliance with the EU requirements. These laws were passed following the successful implementation of the Twinning project by the Competition Council. The modernization of the Customs Service of Moldova contin-ued in 2012 with the support of the EU Border Assistance Mission (EUBAM).
On May 22, 2012 the Embassy of the Kingdom of Sweden in Moldova and EBRD launched the Joint Fund for Female Entrepreneurs (WiB), expected to benefit the businesses started by women and where most of the staff are women. Up to 90 beneficiaries can benefit from consulting and facilitated access to loans. This is a three-year program.
WB, IFAD, EU, EBRD, the banking system, MCC and others implemented projects aimed to facilitate the access of the private sector to finance.
Competitiveness Policies and Development of Small and Medium Enterprises. To create enabling environment and facilitate the access to funding to start up and expand businesses the SME support programs continued in 2012.
The support program for small and medium enterprises funded by the Government of Japan, which has a 40% grant component, facilitates the procurement of a large range of new production equipment by businesses. Eigh-teen leasing contracts were signed in 2012 with the program beneficiaries for equipment amounting to about 1.3 mln. Euros.
The Economic Stimulation in Rural Areas (ESRA) Program, funded by the EU with the support of the Govern-ment of Norway, developed the entrepreneurship skills of business associations and NGOs at local level, while the programs targeting the young people and the migrants who come back to Moldova (NPEEY, PARE 1+1, AIPA) facilitated the access to funding for SMEs.
The World Bank signed in 2012 a EUR 23 mln. Financing Agreement on Competitiveness Enhancement Project in Moldova. It targets a number of structural reforms aimed to improve the investment climate and the access to funding for investments. This is a unique operation through which WB supports the efforts of the Government of Moldova to enhance the economic growth through increased competitiveness of the exports and access to funding.
A critical step forward was the EUR 40 mln. Financing Agreement signed between the Government of Moldo-va and the European Union on the rehabilitation of the electric transport networks of SE Moldelectrica. This assistance includes the funds provided jointly by EBRD (15 MEUR), EIB (17 MEUR) and an 8 MEUR NIF grant provided by the EU. The financial support aims to upgrade the stations and power lines, replace the out-dated equipment, which operated at its minimal technical capacity and was already threatening the environment. Upgrading the power system is a prerequisite that Moldova must fulfill in order to join ENTSO-E (European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity) and a priority laid down in the Activity Program of the Government of Moldova. In the meantime, to increase the energy efficiency, in 2012 EBRD started, through commercial banks, two financing projects (Energy Financing Facility for Moldova II, Moldovan Residential Ener-gy Efficiency Financing Facility). The total budget of these two credit facilities is about 62 MEUR.
The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Moldova implemented in 2012 a cooperation program with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Romania and the Paris Chamber of Commerce and Industry aimed to create an IT platform to promote the business opportunities in Moldova. More specifically, the program focuses on the customer relationship management system; exhibitions and economic missions; marketing of international trade and ways to detect new exporters.
34 2012 Annual Report on external assistance provided to the Republic of Moldova
Quality Infrastructure, Industrial Security and Consumer Protection. The competition policies were supported by the Government of Japan in cooperation with WB. The National Metrology Institute (NMI) received testing equipment for oil products; additional equipment was procured for maintenance of national and reference standards for NMI, as well as “express test” equipment for the Consumer Protection Agency. Addition-ally, 228 businesses received an ISO-based management certificate; 154 businesses received services for business expansion.
The Consumer Protection Agency was established in January 2012 to replace the Main State Inspectorate for Market Surveillance, Metrology and Consumer Protection. To build its institutional capacities the Consumer Protection Agency received support from the European colleagues from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Lithuania through the EU Twinning instrument.
In the Agro-Industrial Policies Sector, the Wine Sector Restructuring Program started with the EIB sup-port. In 2012 its activities focused on the application and further development of the financial tools “Credit Facili-ty” and “Leasing”. Twenty four applications received from beneficiaries were reviewed and nine companies received EIB Credit Facility loans amounting to about nine million Euros.
The International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD) continued supporting SMEs in agriculture through its three ongoing programs. In 2012 it provided 592 loans amounting to about 7.5 mln. Euros to beneficiaries from all the 33 rayons of the country. In the meantime, 2130 new jobs were created in the companies which re-ceived such loans.
The Rural Investment and Services Project (RISP II), with the WB financial support, also contributes to the recov-ery of the agri-industrial sector. The project made significant progress in 2012, creating 274 jobs and starting up 46 businesses with loans amounting to about 3 mln. Euros.
The WB Agriculture Competitiveness Project was signed in 2012 for a five year term and aims to increase compet-itiveness of the country’s food sector by supporting the modernization of the food safety management system, fa-cilitating the access of the agricultural producers to markets and integrating the environmentally-friendly farming and sustainable land management practices. The budget of the project is 22 mln. Euros.
The U.S Government plays an important part in the development of the agro-industrial sector. Acting through MCC it implements the Transition to High Value Agriculture Project, which facilitates the irrigation sector re-form. Twenty-one loans amounting to 3.3 mln. Euros were approved and disbursed in 2012, while the average amount of the loans was about 160 000 Euros.
The Government of Japan, through its Assistance Project for Underprivileged Farmers 2KR, facilitated the leasing of farming equipment, covering the free maintenance of the equipment until it is fully paid off. In 2012 contracts were signed with 630 beneficiaries, amounting to about 13 mln. Euros.
Following the drought in 2012, Moldova asked for the support of the development partners to liquidate the af-ter-effects of the natural disasters. Consequently, Moldova received about 100 thousand Euros and about 110 tons of wheat seeds from the Governments of France and Romania, and UNDP. Additionally, Moldova negotiated with WB a larger USD 10 mln. program to prevent and mitigate the natural disasters, while the EU provided about 3 million Euros to the farmers affected by drought.
The National Agency for Food Safety was established in 2012 to address the challenges related to the food safety, operation of the rapid alert system etc. The Twinning “Support to Moldova in food safety rules and standards for vegetable products” project started in April 2012, funded by the European Commission. It provides support for the development of agriculture and food industry in Moldova, in particular for vegetal products, according to the EU legislation, and for the empowerment of these sectors to engage in the international trade.
The Budgetary-Fiscal Sector and Public Finance Management was supported in 20 12 by WB, EU and the bilateral development partners – Slovakia, Estonia and the Netherlands. The ongoing projects in 2012 focused on capacity building in performance-based budgeting, enhancement of the public finance management, issues related to the taxation of non-residents, as well as the tax and customs policy and legislation.
The World Bank facilitated through the Public Finance Management Project the drafting of the organic law on public finance and budgetary-tax responsibility, which passed the first reading in Parliament in July 2012. The testing of the IT Financial Management System (FMS) continued. It should be noted, however, that there are significant delays in this activity, which is critical for the successful implementation of the project.
The EU Twinning project (Sweden and the Netherlands) provided support for putting in place and implementa-
352012 Annual Report on external assistance provided to the Republic of Moldova
tion of a public internal financial control system aligned with the international standards and the European good practices (Ministry of Finance; Ministry of Labor, Social Protection and Family; Ministry of Health; Agency for Land Relations and Cadastre; National Health Insurances Company; National Social Insurances Company; Court of Accounts; Customs Service; Town Hall of Chisinau municipality). Pilot internal audit missions were also con-ducted (internal system audit, performance audit, financial audit), along with a pilot training based on 18 training programs, the purpose of which was to test the skills of the experts in public financial management.
In 2012 the Capacity Building for Performance-Based Budgeting Project in Moldova designed training systems and developed training curricula and support materials for the central public administration. High level officials and decision makers from the central and local public administrations received training in the performance-based budgeting concept (PBB). Training for trainers was delivered to two teams of trainers – Ministry of Finance (16 trainers) and CPA (24 trainers). An EU Twinning project was initiated in November 2011 also to improve the public finance management. Support was provided by experts from Sweden and the Netherlands.
Infrastructure and Transport. In 2012 the Government of Moldova continued implementing the Road Sector Program Support Project (RSPSP) in the Ministry of Transport and Road Infrastructure (MTRI) funded by EBRD, EIB, International Development Association (IDA/WB), EU and the U.S. Government. The project supports the Government Program in the road sector. The project contracts are funded through separate financing agreements signed by and between the Government of Moldova and IDA, EBRD, EIB, EC and MCC (IFIs).
The rehabilitation works under RSPSP started on the following national road segments with a total length of about 151.5 km:
• R14 Balti-Sarateni road km 10+780 - km 26+600 and km 38+300 – km 43+000, km 61+000 – km
64+370 (funded by EU)
• M2 Chisinau-Soroca km 5+733 – km 26+200, km 26+200 – km 54+850 and km 54+850 – km 71+165,
(funded by EBRD and EIB)
• R3 Chisinau-Hincesti km 22+000 – km 29+920 (funded by EIB)
• M3 Chisinau-Giurgiulesti km 96+800 - km 151+200 (funded by EBRD)
In the meantime EIB committed nonrefundable assistance for technical audit services and in early 2012 started the procurement process.
On 11 July, 2012 the Governments of Moldova and Georgia signed in Batumi the bilateral international road traffic agreement. The efforts toward the accession to the Common Aviation Area continued through the signing of the EU - Moldova Common Aviation Area Agreement (Brussels, June 26, 2012). The Civil Aviation Authority was established to complete the institutional reform in the air transport sector and the separation of policymaking functions from the certification, supervision and control functions.
The feasibility studies for other road segments continued, EBRD and EIB showing their willingness to provide about 300 mln. Euros for the rehabilitation of about 390 km of roads, along with the feasibility studies for the reform of the SE “Railway of Moldova”. These agreements are expected to be negotiated and signed in 2013. In terms of the reform of the SE “Railway of Moldova”, its first phase was implemented according to the Association Agreement and the relevant EU directives, targeting the internal separation of the activities in the SE Railway of Moldova by cargo, passenger transport and infrastructure sectors and with the financial-economic indicators ex-pected to be separated since 2012.
In June 2012 Moldova and EU signed two agreements aimed at facilitating the movement of the Moldovan people in the EU: (1) Common Aviation Area Agreement and (ii) Amendments to the Visa Facilitation Agreement signed in 2008. These agreements are complementary: the amendments to the Visa Facilitation Agreement facilitate the visa issuance procedure for several additional categories of beneficiaries and simplify the visa liberalization require-ments. The Common Aviation Area Agreement provides a common regulation framework, which encourages com-petition and, therefore, is expected to cut down the prices of air flights to the European destinations. Collectively, these two agreements are expected to encourage the mobility of the Moldovan people.
A EUR 22 mln. project is expected to start based on the agreements signed in 2012 to fully rehabilitate six import-ant roads in the Chisinau municipality. EBRD and EIB will provide 10.3 mln. Euros, while the other 1.6 mln. Euros will be NIF grant assistance provided by the EU.
36 2012 Annual Report on external assistance provided to the Republic of Moldova
4.3. Accountable and Efficient Administration
Government Action Plan objectives
To create an accountable and efficient administrative system, the Government committed to reform the central public administration by creating a functional and sustainable institutional framework governed by the rule of law and delivering quality public services to the people, making the decision making transparent, fair, efficient and effective. The decentralization and devolution of powers to the local government will aim at coherent channeling of the rights, responsibilities and funds to LPA, according to the European Chart of Local Self-Government and development of their administrative capacities. E-Governance for the benefit of the people is another priority of the Government, the ultimate goal being to turn Moldova into a modern, advanced and interactive state using modern ICT. To ensure a balanced local and regional development, the Government Action Plan contains actions meant to reduce the regional development imbalance by implementing investment projects and stimulating eco-nomic growth in the disadvantaged regions, as well as by encouraging the initiatives at local and regional levels and the cooperation between CPA and LPA.
External assistance in 2012
Eight projects were implemented in 2012 with the support of the development partners to create an accountable and efficient public administration. Three of them started in 2012.
WB and Sweden joined their efforts to support the commitment to create an efficient and friendly civil service in Moldova. One of the most significant performances achieved in 2012 was the tangible progress made in e-services sector. On May 10, 2012 the e-Government Center with WB support launched the website of public services www.servicii.gov.md. This platform brings together the public services available in Moldova, including the elec-tronic ones, into a single system. It also gives the possibility to the private sector to receive services like the elec-tronic criminal record, business registration, issuance of certificates and licenses, electronic statements, payment of social insurances contributions etc. To improve the public procurement system and ensure the efficient use of public funds through mitigation of corruption, the pilot phase of the Automated IT System State Register of Pub-lic Procurements started on September 3, 2012. About 600 public procurement procedures have been initiated and conducted through this system so far and the contracts that were consequently awarded amounted to around 1 250 billion lei.
The “Paperless Government” initiative was also launched in 2012. The purpose of SIGEDIA (management system of documents and records of CPA authorities) is to digitalize the processes and ensure the electronic flow of the documents inside the Executive in order to improve the performance of ministries and governmental agencies. The joint e-government M-Cloud platform was also deployed. Its purpose is to improve the communication and secure the operation of the Government in the digital space and it enables the storage of data in a single set of servers, thus cutting down the costs borne by the Government and improving the internal business processes. Due to this platform in November 2012 the Government of Moldova was awarded the international Best Cloud Project in Central and Eastern Europe award. The www.particip.gov.md portal, which makes the link with the websites of the ministries and on which anyone can leave feedback to a draft regulation or law, was launched in a revised version in March 2012 to improve the decision making process.
The implementation of the Central Public Administration Reform Strategy supported by WB continued in 2012. Seventeen ministries and central specialized bodies and public authorities finalized their strategic development programs (SDPs) as part of it. Progress was made in terms of the professional development of the civil servants. The data also reveal increasing investments in HR in civil service by the development partners. The MA Scholar-ship Program, initiated in 2011 by the Government, continued for the civil servants who want to study abroad. In 2012, 19 civil servants won MA scholarships abroad (as against 9 in 2011).
On March 22, 2012 the Parliament passed the Law no.48 on the pay system in civil service, and later the Regu-lation on the performance appraisal of civil servants, which served as the first modern public management instru-ment applied in the governmental system in Moldova.
The National Development Strategy “Moldova 2020”, a national strategic planning document that lays down seven country’s long-term priorities and the relevant targets to be achieved from 2015 to 2020, was completed and approved.
372012 Annual Report on external assistance provided to the Republic of Moldova
To ensure a balanced local and regional development the law on regional development was drafted with the sup-port of the EU Twinning Project “Capacity Building in Regional Development in Moldova”. Additionally, the draft of the National Regional Development Strategy and the Guidebook for the development of the National Regional Development Strategy were developed and the regulatory framework on spatial planning and urban de-velopment was revised. The financial support of the Government of Germany (a 10 mln. Euros) made it possible to achieve the regional development goal through institutional support for the Ministry of Regional Development and Construction, Regional Development Agencies and town- and village halls, as well as to implement different small projects in the country’s regions – energy efficiency in public premises, solid waste management, water supply and sanitation.
To achieve the goal of decentralization and devolution of powers to local government, the financial support of the Government of Sweden and UNDP made it possible to adopt the National Decentralization Strategy and develop a number of policies for financial, competence, education decentralization and decentralization of social assistance services and evaluate the capacities of the local governments. In the meantime, 12 public utility services such as waste collection, street lighting, water supply, road rehabilitation were improved in ten towns.
The implementation of trans-border and transnational cooperation programs (2007- 2013 Joint Operational Pro-gramme Romania-Ukraine-Moldova, 2007- 2013 Black Sea Basin Joint Operational Programme and the 2007-2013 Transnational Cooperation Programme) enabled the beneficiaries and partners in Moldova to benefit from about 29 mln. Euros.
4.4. Foreign Policy
Government Action Plan objectives
The Government’s foreign policy objective is to continue to ensure the country’s national interests and create a pos-itive image for it by promoting a dynamic and coherent foreign policy. The Government also committed to scale up the dialogue and cooperation with the EU member countries to speed up the political, economic, social and justice reforms aimed to align the country with the European standards and, therefore, help it become a candidate country for EU accession. The other goal pursued by the Government of Moldova is to scale up the bilateral rela-tions and multilateral cooperation, promote the good neighborhood relationships and build strategic partnerships with the EU, Romania, Ukraine, the Russian Federation and USA.
External assistance in 2012
In 2012 there were four ongoing foreign policy projects supported by the development partners. One of them started in 2012. It should be noted that the assistance in this sector cannot be quantified by the number or amount of projects, because the communication with the external partners and their supportive attitude means very much for a country’s development policy. Moldova, which declared its European integration goal, is not an exception.
Moldova’s most active development partners that supported its efforts to achieve the foreign and European integra-tion commitments were, largely, the EU and its member countries – Estonia, Austria, Romania, Sweden, Hungary, Lithuania, Denmark etc. Due to their support, joined by UNDP, in particular through technical assistance provid-ed to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, and other players in the negotiations on the Mol-dova-EU Association Agreement and the Free Trade Agreement, Moldova entered the third phase of the European Integration Agenda. The national negotiation capacities were developed through training delivered to about 300 civil servants from 15 public institutions at different levels in issues like approximation of the national legislation to the EU acquis, the visa dialogue with the EU, negotiation of the Association and Freed Trade Agreements.
The signing of the Common Aviation Area Agreement contributed to the creation of a common regulation area, which will encourage competition and will, therefore, cut down the prices of air flights to the European destina-tions.
The implementation of the migration and development components of the EU-Moldova Mobility Partnership continued in 2012 through a large outreach campaign on the migration methods, and development of the skills of the consular staff of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration in their work with the diaspora. In the meantime, WB provided support for the launch of the first stage of the design of an IT visa system and at the end of 2012 a company was selected to deploy it.
38 2012 Annual Report on external assistance provided to the Republic of Moldova
4.5 Country Reintegration
Government Action Plan objectives
To address the primary goal of the Republic of Moldova – Transnistrian conflict settlement - the government committed to figure out a viable and sustainable solution through 5+2 negotiations respecting the country’s sov-ereignty and territorial integrity. A special focus is on the creation of enabling environment for the reintegration of the Transnistrian region in the economic, informational, political, social and cultural space of the Republic of Moldova.
External assistance in 2012
The Government of Moldova promotes a policy focused on the unconditional withdrawal of the foreign military troops from the region, according to the resolutions of the OSCE Summit in Istanbul, and replacement of the current peacekeeping mission with an international multinational civil mission.
The Transnistrian conflict settlement is the most important and ambitious task of the OSCE Mission to Moldova, which along with the Russian Federation and Ukraine is a mediator in the negotiations. The purpose of the latter is to identify a final, complex and sustainable solution to the Transnistrian conflict. In 2012 the 5+2 negotiations were resumed with the OSCE support after a six-year break. The officials from Chisinau and Tiraspol have met five times ever since. OSCE also worked with the two administrations, mediators and observers facilitating the settle-ment of different social-economic and educational matters, such as the signing of the agreements on the reopening of the rail freight traffic through Transnistria and disposal of radioactive waste.
The measures meant to bring the two banks of the Nistru River closer are supported through all the development programs implemented with the support of the external partners and the entire territory of the Republic of Mol-dova is eligible for these programs. WB, Government of Japan, UN, EU member countries etc. are partners that provide funds supporting the implementation of different development projects. Some programs are implemented on both banks. Others, however, do not enjoy the support of the administration of the breakaway region of Trans-nistria.
A special EUR 13 mln. program - „Trust Building Measures” - started in January 2012 with the financial support of the EU and UNDP as the implementing agency. The purpose of this program is to implement micro-projects targeting infrastructure, private sector, environment protection. The competition for selection of the localities in the Security Zone on the right and left banks of the Nistru River for this project was announced in May 2012. The implementation of several projects started by the end of 2012 aimed at upgrading the water supply and sanitation system, renovation of kindergartens and health centers etc.
4.6 Education and Research
Government Action Plan objectives
To improve the quality of the education system the objectives are focused on the creation of a more flexible and well-equipped education system, with trained staff, efficient training materials, expansion of the education and early childhood development services, as well as promotion of inclusive education and development of educational alternatives.
External Assistance in 2012
To achieve these objectives and improve the education sector, the Government of Moldova together with the ex-ternal partners is implementing 31 projects with a total budget of about 74 million Euros.
The „Global Partnership for Education” project was launched in 2012 with the WB and UN/UNICEF support and with a total budget of 4.4 mln. USD. It aims at creating enabling environment for quality early education for all the preschool children in Moldova. The renovation of the kindergartens has already started in two localities, while for other 41 localities the kindergartens were evaluated technically and their infrastructure will be improved; they will be provided with books, furniture, training materials and toys.
392012 Annual Report on external assistance provided to the Republic of Moldova
UNICEF helped the Government of Moldova with the promotion of the inclusive education, reintegration of children from residential institutions in families and alternative services (family-type homes, professional parental assistance, community rehabilitation centers etc.). Consequently, the number of children in the residential care system fell by 62%. UNICEF continued providing support for enlarging participation in education, reduction of the drop-out rate and improvement of students’ academic performances through the transformation of schools into inclusive and child-friendly institutions. The “Early Childhood Education” Project helped open 40 commu-nity centers in the localities which do not have kindergartens. Twenty-one of them had the sanitary and hygienic conditions improved, 325 educators and 700 teachers, managers and inspectors received training in child-centered education and cooperation with parents; the first 39 children with special education needs received gymnasium graduation certificates in primary schools along with other children; 1604 children with special needs go to general schools.
With the Open Society Foundation support, the Keystone Moldova Association expanded the piloting of inclusive education in seven additional communities. Overall, in 2012 the Inclusive Education Methodology developed by Keystone Moldova was piloted in 22 schools in 15 rayons. Additionally, 15 Resource Centers for Inclusive Educa-tion were created. They provided services to 412 beneficiaries, including 144 children with special needs.
The modernization of the school infrastructure is an objective not less important for the support of the education efficiency, which is a reason why a strong focus is on creating a good material-training base for the Moldovan ed-ucation institutions. Therefore, the Ministry of Education and other 82 education institutions received material goods (office supplies and equipment) amounting to about two million lei provided as grant assistance through the intergovernmental agreement signed between Moldova and the People’s Republic of China. Additionally, the LED support made it possible to reduce the heating costs and deliver participatory training in the Pro Succes High School in Chisinau, student hostels SP Cupcin, SP 1 Cahul and SP Floresti through the rehabilitation and reinstallation of heating systems.
The Government’s efforts to put in place a training system aimed at training competitive HR for the current needs of the labor market are supported by the Government of Austria, LED, UN and FEI. The implementation of projects with the support of the external partners contributed to the renovation and fitting out of two school workshops for such jobs as „locksmith-plumber” and „electromotor for maintenance of electrical equipment”, as well as development of two professional curricula for these jobs; fitting out the training rooms and two laboratories for chefs and tailors at the Technical University of Moldova; building the capacities of the members of the Sector Committees in Construction and Agriculture. Additionally, four occupational standards projects were developed for painter, locksmith-plumber, vine grower and confectioner.
The launch of the “Entrepreneurship and Employment Education” (MEEETA II - LED) contributed to increasing employment by aligning the educational offer to the demand on the labor market. Therefore, 261 young people received training in entrepreneurship; 242 of them prepared their own business plans; 39 grants were provided for start-ups and 202 jobs were created. The pilot-project “Novateca: Global Libraries” in Moldova supported by the US Program “Global Library” and launched in 2012 enables the modernization of public libraries and promotes the sustainable exchanges in the rural space through the transformation of libraries in Community Information Centers (68 rural libraries received equipment available for the public).
4.7 Health of Population
Government Action Plan objectives
In the health sector, the objectives of the Government of Moldova focused on ensuring the access of all the people to quality public healthcare, medical and pharmaceutical services; monitoring of operation and performance of all medical service providers and medical insurances companies; creation and application of minimal quality stan-dards, as well as provision of medical and laboratory equipment, medicines, advanced technologies to medical and state supervision institutions in the health sector.
External assistance in 2012
In 2012 the development activities in the health sector continued to focus mainly on the facilitation of the access of the people to the healthcare services and improvement of the quality of service delivery, making significant progress due to the active engagement of both donors and beneficiaries at all the project stages.
The efficient coordination and good communication between the donors and the Ministry of Health was the key to the successful implementation of all the activities. In 2012 WB, CEB and the Government of Romania con-tributed to the improvement of the medical assistance and continued the construction and rehabilitation of 40 medical-sanitary institutions in the rural areas and the Regional Blood Transfusion Center in Cahul, according to
40 2012 Annual Report on external assistance provided to the Republic of Moldova
the international standards and requirements.
The UN technical assistance provided to support the reform of the public health system continued in 2012, with a focus, in particular, on the treatment and prevention of non-communicable diseases, institutionalization of HIV prevention in schools, and reduction of the number of HIV infected people among the injecting drug users and detainees. The health services in penitentiaries were evaluated; the curricula and training program for the doctors of the Republican Narcology Clinic were revised and applied. Moreover, UNODC donated IT equipment to the Narcology, Psychiatry and Medicine Faculties of Nicolae Testimiteanu State University of Medicine.
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria provided a USD 10.7 mln. support to enhance the control of tuberculosis and reduce HIV in Moldova. Ten community centers were opened and equipped to support the TB and HIV infected persons. A lot of infected people were diagnosed, treated and reintegrated in the society. Additionally, the renovation of the Education Complex of the Oncology Institute was completed. It was institu-tionalized and is expected to be officially inaugurated in 2013.
The construction of the surgery department of the Republican Clinical Hospital continued in 2012 with the finan-cial support of WB, CEB and EU. Therefore, the procurement of medical equipment for this department and for other hospitals in Chisinau and in the region has started. The support for this purpose is provided by the Govern-ment of Austria and negotiations have been started with the Government of Japan, which has already contributed to the fitting out of the Health Center in Drochia through the Kusanone Scheme.
4.8 Social Policies
Government Action Plan objectives
To improve the social protection system the Government of Moldova committed to deliver on the following objec-tives: put in place a fair and sustainable pension system; facilitate the access of the people to the measures promoted on the labor market through the implementation of active, efficient and targeted policies; encourage active policies to increase the birth rate and support maternity through regularly increasing allowances for families with children; promote gender equality; coordinate the nationwide implementation of the one-stop shop model for social service delivery.
External assistance in 2012
The social protection sector accounts for the largest part in the spending from the national public budget (about 35%) and to ensure fair social protection in 2012 the joint activities of the public authorities and donors focused mainly on the access of the people to quality social services and support for vulnerable people, continuation of the design and implementation of social programs that will contain measures and tools meant to improve the standard of living; protection of the people from adverse phenomena such as unemployment, poverty and brain drain.
EU, WB, Czech Development Agency, UNICEF, USAID and IOM (International Organization for Migration) are the external partners that actively support the social protection sector. They finance about 16 ongoing projects amounting to about 46 mln. Euros.
Social Protection. One of the most important ongoing projects in Moldova is WB Social Assistance Project (37 mln. Euros), which supports the efficiency and equity of the social protection system in Moldova through the expansion and sustainable fiscal strengthening of the Social Aid program. To increase the administrative efficiency, in partnership with the local and central governments, the project initiated the formulation of the standards for service delivery and a new business model for the Social Assistance Divisions at local level (rayonal). The project also supported the creation of the Social Inspection by the Ministry of Labor, Social Protection and Family and building of its capacities for identification and mitigation of errors and fraudulent income and/or evaluation of the applications from people and from the beneficiaries of the “Social Aid” and “Aid for Cold Season” schemes. It initiated the development and implementation of a sound strategy of outreach and implementation of the social assistance reform in Moldova. To support the vulnerable families in the cold season of the year, the aid provided for covering the energy costs increased from 150 to 200 lei per month.
Last year about 78 thousand families received social aid. WB contributed to the sustainability of the social aid pol-icy. The guaranteed minimum monthly income for social aid increased from 575 in 2011 to 640 in 2012. In the meantime, the formula used for the proxy test to determine the eligibility for the Social Aid program was revised. In 2012 the Parliament passed a law which amended and abrogated certain legislative acts, cancelling the nomi-native targeted compensations and increasing the monthly state allowance with 100 lei, and introducing four new
412012 Annual Report on external assistance provided to the Republic of Moldova
categories of beneficiaries of such allowances (about 55 thousand people).
he WB „Health and Social Assistance Services” project provided all the social assistants with PCs to help them closely monitor the quality of services. All the potential users of the automated information system “Social Assis-tance” (1375) received relevant equipment.
A project supported by EU, WB and Soros Foundation in Moldova provided significant support for the integra-tion of the disabled in biological families, while 1312 families received support for the inclusion and prevention of institutionalization. Therefore, 46 families are receiving assistance for the social inclusion of the deinstitutionalized children; 351 are receiving support to prevent institutionalization; 412 are receiving support to enroll their chil-dren at school and 50 are receiving assistance to deinstitutionalize their children placed in boarding houses.
A significant contribution to the social inclusion of the disabled comes from the nongovernmental sector (Soros Foundation Moldova, Open Foundation, Keystone Moldova), present in 25 rayons, two municipalities (Chisinau and Balti) and TAU Gagauzia, i.e. 80% of the administrative-territorial units of level II in Moldova. They provid-ed support to 155 disabled persons to prevent their institutionalization; the number of the disabled children and adults who received assistance increased twice (from 686 at the end of 2011 to 1334 at the end of 2012); another 56 community and support services and 61 jobs were created for the disabled people.
To provide social housing to the socially disadvantaged groups and complete the construction of some blocks of flats, the Housing Project for the socially vulnerable groups, phase II was completed and ratified. The EUR 13.4 mln. agreement was signed with CEB.
Employment and Labor Migration. The labor migration sector focused on the improvement of the legisla-tion and alignment of the regulations with other relevant legislative acts. Therefore, amendments were made to the Law on the labor migration and Law on the foreigners in Moldova. These amendments, which cancel the immi-gration quota for work, will help create a more efficient regulatory framework to regulate the relations between the players in the labor migration process and create enabling environment for foreign investments. In the meantime, the pilot-project on labor mobility delivered services in training and employment and improvement of the man-agement of the migration of skilled labor force between Italy and Moldova. The major activities aimed to organize and deliver language-vocational training.
The „Assisted voluntary return and reintegration of minors and young adults” project, with a focus on prevention of trafficking, implemented by the Government of Austria and the European Return Fund, provided assistance to different beneficiaries and contributed to the creation of the Inter-institutional Committee for monitoring the project implementation.
Gender Policies. The External Assistance Coordination Council for Gender Equality was created in 2012 to improve the coordination of the joint operations of the Ministry of Labor, Social Protection and Family and the relevant donor organizations. The Ministry of Labor, Social Protection and Family, in cooperation with UN Women and Partnership for Devel-opment Center delivered training in gender policy issues, drafted a package of legislative amendments on equal opportunities for women and men and initiated their approval process. With the EU support the experts of the Assistance and Protection Center and the Ministry of Labor, Social Protection and Family undertook visits to the Multi-Disciplinary Teams (MDT) and vice versa to monitor specific cases and expand the National Referral Sys-tem for assistance and protection to victims and potential victims of trafficking (NRS) at community level.The Government of Norway, Denmark and Swiss Confederation contributed to the fight against the trafficking in persons, prevention of risks and identification of victims and potential victims through the development of indi-vidual rehabilitation plans, reintegration and complex assistance provided to the victims of trafficking through the National Referral System.
With the UNICEF support experts in reproductive health received training and about 59 thousand teenagers and young people received counseling and undertook the voluntary test on HIV/SIDA issues.
With the U.S. support outreach sessions were held for the medical staff about how to identify, refer, reintegrate and monitor the victims of domestic violence.
42 2012 Annual Report on external assistance provided to the Republic of Moldova
4.9 Environment ProtectionGovernment Action Plan objectives
In the environment protection sector the Government focused on the rational use of water resources, waste man-agement, air protection, conservation of biodiversity and adaptation to climate change.
External assistance in 2012 and implementation status of objectives.
The Ministry of Environment was supported by UNDP in drafting the National Environment Strategy for 2012 – 2022, aimed to promote the sustainable development of Moldova through economic development in terms of ecology and environment protection. A significant amount of donor assistance was channeled for the water supply and sanitation sector and waste management and protection of biodiversity.
The National Water Supply and Sanitation Project funded by WB provided the utility companies Ungheni, Flor-esti and Cahul with maintenance equipment. The construction of collecting networks Orhei with a length of 4.27 km and one Treatment Station in Ungheni servicing about 20 000 and 7000 tenants, accordingly, was complet-ed. The Wastewater Treatment Plant in Orhei town was built with the EU support as part of this program. The implementation of the Water Utilities Development Program in Moldova continued with the support of EBRD, EIB and European Commission as part of their regionalization efforts aimed to improve the quality of services and ensure their financial viability and reliability.
To this end, re-loan contracts were signed with the six companies covered by the project, which were further reor-ganized into stock companies. Overall, 14 works contracts were signed amounting to about 13 mln. Euros. 88 km of water supply network and 18 km of sewerage network were built.
The European Union was present in this sector through its SPSP supporting the structural reforms and adjustment of the relevant regulatory and legislative framework. The Swedish Radiation Safety Authority (SSM) and the Vien-na International Atomic Energy Agency, Austria contributed to the refurbishment of the National Agency for Reg-ulation of Nuclear and Radiological Activities (NARNRA), which received equipment to identify the radiological sources, while the staff received dosimeters, equipment to measure the ionizing radiation and medical radiological and calibration equipment.
The UN support made it possible to create a team of national experts in energy management compliant with the ISO 50001 standard (approved as the National Standard of Moldova) and estimate the technological needs related to the adaptation to the climate change approved by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP). The Waste Management Strategy was drafted for a 15-year term for the South Development Region, where the Waste Management Association was established and registered.
The Government of Slovakia contributed to the revision of the relevant Moldovan legislation in terms of the ap-proximation to the EU legislation on waste electrical and electronic equipment (DEEE). The Government of Swe-den contributed to the drafting of the National Situational Report on the Sustainable Management of Chemicals which will identify its challenges, capacities and needs in the major development sectors of the country.
Moldova signed with EC a Civil Protection Administrative Arrangement in which the parties commit to enhance the cooperation on prevention, preparation for and response to disasters. WB continued to support the capacity of the natural disaster management status. The Doppler radar and equipment for hydro-meteorological measure-ments/observations was put into operation, the construction of two weather stations started, the platform for early warning of agriculture about the adverse weather phenomena was designed and deployed. The “Remediation of Environmental Burdens Caused by Pesticides in Moldova” project funded by the Czech Republic packed and transported abroad to be destroyed about 45 tons of pesticides from the village of Clocusna, Ocnita rayon, and another 200 tons from other localities are expected to be evacuated and destroyed.
432012 Annual Report on external assistance provided to the Republic of Moldova
As mentioned in the Report Methodology, to collect information for the report questionnaires were distributed to the central and specialized public authorities to answer questions related to the ongoing projects by sector.
The evaluation of the questionnaires showed that the beneficiaries rated the projects as good and very good. There-fore, 94% of the respondents mentioned that the objectives were achieved as expected, including in terms of their contribution to the sector development, about 94.2% of the respondents consider that the projects are aligned with the priorities of the Government Action Plan and said that they were engaged in project design.
It is interesting to note that the findings of the evaluation for 2012 are not very much different from the findings for 2011. The trend in terms of the status of project outcomes and objectives, alignment with the priorities of the Government Program and Action Plan, and involvement in project design are almost similar as evidenced by the questionnaire-based evaluation for these two years.
The number of projects reported by the authorities is 197, i.e. about 50% of all the ongoing projects recorded in the database of the State Chancellery. This reveals that the authorities do not have information about the ongoing projects or that some completed projects have not been deleted from the database.
As for the challenges in external assistance implementation, the evaluation of questionnaires revealed two types of challenges – related to assistance planning and implementation. The most challenges mentioned most often are:
Planning phase:
— Bad programming (e.g., unrealistic goals)
— Lack of correlation between activities, objectives and results
— Inadequate needs assessment at project preparation phase
— Project activities insufficiently targeted at the needs of beneficiaries
Implementation phase:
— Lack of resources (time, financial and human resources) necessary for successful implementation of the project
— Lack of coordination between different institutions involved in project implementation and communication problems
— Bureaucratic barriers and lack of local/regional support
— Insufficient use of local expertise
Annex A “Questionnaire Evaluation Summary” makes a more detailed analysis of the questionnaires.
The State Chancellery is the entity in charge of the programming and evaluation of external assistance at national level. One of its objectives is to guide the identification and formulation of good project proposals, ensuring ap-propriate implementation of projects and, therefore, develop and put in place a national monitoring system.
This report contains information about the external assistance that Moldova received in 2012 and its contribution to the implementation of the Government Action Plan. This information is largely based on the inputs of central and specialized public authorities, the project evaluation reports by authorities or donors, and the information from the database of the State Chancellery.
he evaluation of the questionnaires revealed a positive response of the ministries to the projects implemented in their sectors. The involvement of the authorities in project identification and design helped increase the impact of projects, in general, and at sector level, in particular. About 6% of all the answers signaled major problems or challenges.
CHALLENGES AND PROSPECTS IN 2013
44 2012 Annual Report on external assistance provided to the Republic of Moldova
However, the interpretation of the poll results should consider the fact that answers were provided not for all the projects, and the answers received might refer to the most successful ones.
At the same time, the information received from the development partners differs from other information sourc-es (official websites of the partners, OCDE etc.) with an around 30-40% margin of error. The availability of the public information about the implementation of projects is limited and is not published by beneficiaries or the implementing agencies on their official websites, or is outdated and is not accurate.
As for the coordination of the external assistance at sector level, some line ministries have good performances in mobilizing the partners to channel the assistance to achieving the development objectives, while others are still lagging behind; consequently this undermines the quality of the expected results and achievement of final targets. Moreover, because of the lack of skilled staff, some ministries find it difficult to identify the relevant projects and interact efficiently with the ongoing ones.
This evaluation of the impact of the external assistance on the delivery on the development agenda of Moldova revealed some constraints and enables us to draw conclusions and make other commitments in the future.
The international consultations on how to make the development cooperation more effective and the formulation of the future objectives in the Global Partnership stresses again how important the focus on results is for the devel-opment agenda, inclusive partnership, transparency and mutual accountability.
All these principles are important for the Government of Moldova in its cooperation with the development part-ners and we will continue applying them countrywide. In 2013 the joint external assistance planning, implemen-tation and evaluation of the performance indicators formulated by the Global Partnership, and improvement of the information sharing through the new data management platform AMP will continue.
To continue improving the efforts to make development cooperation more efficient, in the upcoming period the State Chancellery committed, inter alia, to:
—Align the external assistance to the national development priorities and link the assistance programming cycle with the budgetary and policy planning cycle;
—Ensure transparency and make the information related to external assistance management public. The IT exter-nal assistance platform will be revised and adjusted;
—Rethink the inter-ministerial coordination and put in place unified and efficient dialogue platforms;
—Continue supporting and stimulating the institutional capacities of the ministries depending on their perfor-mances.
452012 Annual Report on external assistance provided to the Republic of Moldova
A. Questionnaire Evaluation Summary
B. Ongoing External Assistance Projects in 2012
C. External Assistance Agreements signed in 2012
ANNEX A. QUESTIONNAIRE EVALUATION SUMMARY
Introduction
The purpose of the survey was to carry out a performance evaluation of the external assistance provided in support of the sectors of the central specialized public authorities in Moldova in 2012 in terms of accountability, transpa-rency, impact and sustainability.
The questionnaire was distributed to 29 central specialized public authorities that were asked to fill it in for each on-going external assistance project/programme they implemented in 2012. The distribution of questionnaires was followed up by telephone calls to deal with any difficulties arising with understanding of the questionnaires and to encourage a speedy response.
The questionnaire consisted of three parts. Part 1 collected basic information about the project and the recipient institution. Part 2 contained descriptive questions, such as to what extent the project/programme achieved its objectives; to what extent the project contributed to the development of the sector; whether or not the expected results were achieved (and if not, why) and are sustainable, and other questions pertinent to project design, ma-nagement and operational decision-making. Part 3 asked the public authorities to quantify the outputs and the results achieved by the project in 2012, i.e. the number and topics of training sessions carried out, the number of persons trained, the number of laws/policy documents drafted and the number of new jobs created.
The State Chancellery received 197 replies. The Ministry of Internal Affairs implemented the greatest number of projects (27), followed by the Ministry of Environment (22) and the Ministry of Health (20). Some institutions did not have any projects in 2012, e.g. the Ministry of Youth and Sport and the Agency for Tourism.
The vast majority of projects assessed by the public institutions were rated as very good or good. Almost 94% of the respondents stated that their projects achieved the objectives as expected. Most of the public institutions claimed that their projects contributed to sector development in line with the national priorities. 94% of the respondents participated in project design.
All the respondents expressed their satisfaction about (i) planned activities having led to expected results, (ii) deli-verables having been of the expected quality and usefulness for the beneficiary and (iii) where relevant, the project having contributed to capacity building of the beneficiary institution.
Most of the recipient institutions did not indicate any difficulties in achieving the expected results and replied that the projects contributed to building the capacities in the sector. The respondents also confirmed that the project sustainability was ensured. Yet, not all the respondents replied or gave a positive answer to the questions about the capacity building and project sustainability. Only 140 out of 197 respondents answered these two questions, and three answers were negative for both questions.
ANNEXES
46 2012 Annual Report on external assistance provided to the Republic of Moldova
Delivery on Project ObjectivesThe analysis of projects by sector revealed major difficulties in two sectors: the economic and financial policies (18.42%) and the environmental protection sector (18.18%). The respondents in both sectors (5 institutions in the economic and financial policies sector took part in the survey: the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry; the Ministry of Economy; the Ministry of Finance; the Ministry of Information Technology and Communication, and the Ministry of Transport and Road Infrastructure, while only one institution took part in the Environmen-tal Protection sector: the Ministry of Environment) identified the following problems in achieving the expected results:
1. Planning stage:
— Bad programming (e.g. unrealistic goals)
— Lack of correlation between activities, objectives and outcomes
— Inadequate needs assessment at project preparation phase
— Project activities insufficiently targeted at the needs of beneficiaries
2. Implementation stage:
— Lack of time, financial and human resources necessary for successful implementation of the project (insufficient staff qualification, experience/motivation to achieve project goals)
— Lack of coordination between different institutions involved in project implementation
— Bureaucratic barriers
— Insufficient use of local expertise
— Communication problems
— Failure to provide local/regional support
— Legislative ambiguity and ineffective implementation of laws
The most significant problems were with (i) the insufficient use of local expertise, (ii) the communication problems and (iii) lack of coordination between different institutions involved in project implementation.
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Achivement on project objectives Alignment with GAP Involvement in project design Contribution to sector development Achievement of expected results
Very good Good Some problems Major problems
Overall Project PerformanceSource: State Chancellery
472012 Annual Report on external assistance provided to the Republic of Moldova
Alignment with GAPMost institutions agreed that in 2012 the donor assistance was in line with the government policies. However, the public authorities in two sectors (the economic and financial policies – 5.13% and the environmental protection – 9%) admitted that there were major difficulties in aligning the donor assistance to their sector development. Less severe problems were faced in other two sectors: building rule of law (12.5%) and in the other sectors (14.5%).
Involvement in Project DesignMost institutions were involved in project design, though public authorities in five sectors said that they did not participate in the project design process or had had some problems. These sectors are as follows: building rule of law (12.5%), economic and financial policies (11%), accountable and efficient public administration (20%), pub-lic health (10%) and environmental protection (13.5%).
Project Performance by SectorSource: State Chancellery
Alignment with GAPSource: State Chancellery
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Building ruleof law
Economic andfinancialpolicies
Accountableand efficient
publicadministration
Foreign policy Integration ofnational
minorities
Education andresearch
Health ofPopulation
Social Policies Culture Environmentprotection
Other
Very good Good Some problems Major problems
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Building ruleof law
Economic andfinancialpolicies
Accountableand efficient
publicadministration
Foreign policy Integration ofnational
minorities
Education andresearch
Health ofPopulation
Social Policies Culture Environmentprotection
Other
Very good Good Some problems Major problems
48 2012 Annual Report on external assistance provided to the Republic of Moldova
Overview of Project Performance by SectorsBuilding Rule of Law
Five institutions took part in the survey: Anticorruption Center; Court of Accounts; Ministry of Internal Affairs; Ministry of Defense and Ministry of Justice.
The Anticorruption Center returned 2 questionnaires, the Court of Accounts - 1, the Ministry of Internal Affairs – 27, the Ministry of Defense - 1 and the Ministry of Justice – 12; in total 43 questionnaires were returned.
Not all the respondents filled in the questionnaires. More specifically, the Anticorruption Center and the Court of Accounts did not fill in 1 questionnaire each, the Ministry of Internal Affairs - 6 and the Ministry of Justice – 2.
87.5% of the respondents felt that their projects had achieved the objectives (53% of the respondents gave a good rating, 12.5% -very good and almost 22% gave an excellent rating).
Most respondents (81%) agreed that in 2012 the donor assistance was in line with the government policies (Gov-ernment Activity Programme). 78% of the respondents confirmed that the donor assistance contributed to the sector development.
87.5% of the recipient institutions participated in project design and 80% agreed that the expected results had been achieved.
The beneficiary institutions identified several problems in achieving the expected results:
1. Inadequate needs assessment at project design phase
2. Lack of correlation between activities, objectives and outcomes
3. Project activities insufficiently targeted at the needs of beneficiaries
4. Lack of time and financial resources necessary for successful implementation of the project
5. Lack of coordination between different institutions involved in project implementation
6. Bureaucratic barriers
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Building ruleof law
Economic andfinancialpolicies
Accountableand efficient
publicadministration
Foreign policy Integration ofnational
minorities
Education andresearch
Health ofPopulation
SocialPolicies
Culture Environmentprotection
Other
Very good Good Some problems Major problems
Involvement in Project DesignSource: State Chancellery
492012 Annual Report on external assistance provided to the Republic of Moldova
The most significant problems were caused by the lack of coordination between different institutions involved in project implementation and with project activities being insufficiently targeted at the needs of beneficiaries.
Economic and Financial Policies
Five institutions took part in the survey: Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry; Ministry of Economy; Min-istry of Finance; Ministry of Information Technology and Communication, and Ministry of Transport and Road Infrastructure.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry returned 10 questionnaires, the Ministry of Economy - 12, the Ministry of Finance – 15, the Ministry of Information Technology and Communication – 1 and the Ministry of Transport and Road Infrastructure - 8; in total 46 questionnaires were returned.
Not all the respondents filled in the questionnaires. More specifically, the Ministry of Economy did not fill in 1 questionnaire, the Ministry of Finance – 5 and the Ministry of Transport and Road Infrastructure – 2.
Almost 74% of the respondents felt that their projects had achieved the objectives (34.21% of respondents gave a good rating, 26.32% - very good and almost 13.16% gave an excellent rating).
Most respondents (95%) agreed that in 2012 donor assistance was in line with government policies (Government Activity Programme). 77% of respondents confirmed that the donor assistance contributed to the sector develop-ment.
89% of the recipient institutions participated in project design and 81% agreed that the expected results had been achieved.
The most significant problems related to (i) insufficient use of local expertise, (ii) communication problems and (iii) lack of coordination between different institutions involved in project implementation.
Accountable and Efficient Public Administration
Two institutions took part in the survey: Ministry of Regional Development and State Chancellery. The Ministry of Regional Development returned 4 filled in questionnaires, the State Chancellery – 1.
All the respondents felt that their projects had achieved the objectives (80% of respondents gave a good rating, 20% -very good) and agreed that in 2012 the donor assistance was in line with the government policies and that it contributed to sector development. 80% of the recipient institutions participated in project design and all agreed that the expected results were achieved.
The most significant problems were with lack of time and financial resources necessary for successful implementa-tion of the project, human resource constraints (insufficient staff qualification, experience/motivation to achieve project goals), communication gaps and legislative ambiguity and ineffective implementation of laws.
Foreign Policy
Only one institution took part in the survey - Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration. It returned 6 filled in questionnaires. All the respondents felt that their projects had achieved the objectives (giving a good rating) and confirmed that the donor assistance contributed to sector development.
Most respondents (83.33%) agreed that in 2012 the donor assistance was in line with the government policies. The Ministry staff participated in project design and 90% agreed that the expected results had been achieved.
The beneficiary institution had faced no challenges in achieving the expected results.
Educationand Research
Three institutions took part in the survey: Ministry of Education, Academy of Science, and Agency for Innovation and Technology Transfer.
The Ministry of Education returned 12 questionnaires, the Academy of Science – 17 and the Agency for Innova-tion and Technology Transfer – 3. In total 29 questionnaires were returned.
Not all the respondents filled in the questionnaires. More specifically, the Ministry of Education did not fill in 3 questionnaires. Since the Academy of Science and the Agency for Innovation and Technology Transfer took part in the same two TAIEX projects, they filled in 4 separate questionnaires, therefore creating a double entry.
All the respondents felt that the projects had achieved the objectives (76.92% of respondents gave a good rating, 11.54% -very good and almost 11.54% gave an excellent rating). They agreed that in 2012 the donor assistance was in line with the government policies and confirmed that it contributed to sector development. All the recipient institutions participated in project design and 92.31% agreed that the expected results had been achieved.
50 2012 Annual Report on external assistance provided to the Republic of Moldova
Public Health
Only one institution took part in the survey - Ministry of Health. It returned 20 questionnaires.
All the respondents felt that the projects had achieved the objectives (95% of respondents gave a good rating and 5% gave an excellent rating). They agreed that in 2012 the donor assistance was in line with the government pol-icies and confirmed that it contributed to sector development. 90% of the recipient institutions participated in project design and all agreed that the expected results had been achieved.
The beneficiary institution did not identify any problems in achieving the expected results.
Social Policies
Only one institution took part in the survey - Ministry of Labor, Social Protection and Family. It returned 14 questionnaires (1 questionnaire was not filled in).
92.31% of the respondents felt that the project had achieved its objectives (23.08% of respondents gave a good rating, 7.69% - very good and almost 61.54% gave an excellent rating). Most respondents (76.92%) agreed that in 2012 the donor assistance was in line with the government policies (Government Activity Programme). 100% of respondents confirmed that the donor assistance contributed to sector development.
The Ministry staff participated in project design and 92.31% agreed that the expected results were achieved. The beneficiary institution did not identify any problems in achieving the expected results
Integration of National Minorities
Only one institution took part in the survey - Bureau of Interethnic Relations. It filled in 1 questionnaire stating that the project had achieved its objectives (a good rating), that in 2012 the donor assistance was in line with the government policies (giving a good rating) and that it contributed to sector development. The Bureau of Intereth-nic Relations participated in project design and confirmed that the expected results had been achieved.
The beneficiary institution did not identify any problems in achieving the expected results.
Culture
Only one institution in the sector took part in the survey - Ministry of Culture. It returned 3 filled in question-naires. The Ministry felt that the projects had achieved the objectives (giving an excellent rating). The respondents agreed that in 2012 the donor assistance was in line with the government policies and confirmed that it contrib-uted to sector development. The Ministry staff participated in project design and agreed that the expected results had been achieved.
The most significant problems were with lack of time and financial resources necessary for successful implementa-tion of the project and communication problems.
Environmental Protection
Only one institution took part in the survey - Ministry of Environment, which returned 22 filled in question-naires. 77.27% of the respondents felt that their projects had achieved the objectives (13.64% of respondents gave a good rating, 45.45% - very good and almost 18.18% gave an excellent rating). Most respondents (90%) agreed that in 2012 the donor assistance was in line with the government policies and 81.82% of respondents confirmed that it contributed to sector development. Almost 80% of the respondents said that they participated in project design and 91% agreed that the expected results had been achieved.
The most significant problems were with lack of coordination between different institutions involved in project implementation, inadequate needs assessment at the project design phase and insufficient use of local expertise.
Others
Four public institutions that have not been mentioned in the sectors above took part in the survey: National Bu-reau of Statistics; Moldsilva Agency; Agency for Land Relations and Cadaster and National Regulatory Agency for Electronic Communications. All the respondents returned the filled in questionnaires: National Bureau of Statistics - 3, while Moldsilva Agency; Agency for Land Relations and Cadaster and National Regulatory Agency for Electronic Communications returned one questionnaire each. All the respondents felt that their projects had achieved the objectives (57.15% of respondents gave a good rating and 42.86% -very good) and that the donor as-sistance contributed to sector development. Most respondents (83.72%) agreed that in 2012 the donor assistance was in line with the government policies.
All the recipient institutions participated in project design and agreed that the expected results had been achieved. The beneficiary institutions did not identify any problems in achieving the expected results.
512012 Annual Report on external assistance provided to the Republic of Moldova
B. EXTERNAL ASSISTANCE PROJECTS IN 2012
Project DAC Sector
Start Date
DonorCredit/
BeneficiaryBudget(Euro)Close-out
Date Grant
1. Restoration of the Bolohan Village School, Orhei rayon
Other Social Infrastructure and Services
25/01/2012United States of America
Grant Ministry of Edu-cation
202 09724/01/2013
2.
Raising Public Awareness on Solid Waste Management in the North-West of the Black Sea Region
Water and Sanitation3/2/2012 European Union
GrantRegional Environ-mental Center in Moldova
111 1332/8/2013
3.Behavioral Surveillance Survey of Vulnerable Groups in Moldova Health
1/3/2012 United Na-tions Grant
National Center for Health Manage-ment, Chisinau
62 568
30/07/2013HIV/AIDS NGOs
4.Development of Water Management Sys-tems in Tulucesti commune, Galati district, and in the Sireti commune, Straseni rayon
Water and Sanitation18/05/2012 European Union
GrantSireti Town Hall, Straseni
1 359573
18/05/2014
5. Rehabilitation of the Tuberculosis Hospital in Balti
Health1/6/2012
Switzerland Grant Municipal Hospital in Balti
168 3831/6/2013
6.Learning to be healthy program: Water and Sanitation in the Floresti Schools Water and Sanitation
20/07/2012United States of America
Grant NGO Areopagus 128 33120/07/2013
7.Capacity-building in migration man-agement in Moldova
Other Social Infrastructure and Services
6/7/2012 European UnionGrant
Local Public Admin-istration
2 000000
3/1/2015
8.Fitting out the rayonal hospital in Drochia town Health
20/08/2012Japan Grant
Rayonal HospitalDrochia 94 429
20/08/2013
9. Social Housing IIOther Social Infrastructure and Services
16/06/2012Council of Europe Devel-opment Bank
Concessional Loan
Ministry of Regional Development and Construction
13 400000
16/06/2018
10. Real improvement of life of HIV infected people
Health15/06/2012
European Union Grant HIV Infected Persons League
24 93013/12/2012
11. Improvement of Life Safety Measures on the Prut River
Water and Sanitation
29/08/2012
European Union Grant NGO „Cutezatorul” 273 28529/08/2014
12.Procurement of clothes for orphanages in Moldova
Other Social Infrastructure and Services
1/8/2012Turkey
Grant
Temporary Placement and Rehabilitation Center for Infant Children 10 083
29/11/2012
52 2012 Annual Report on external assistance provided to the Republic of Moldova
13.Public-private partnership for sustainable development of community social assistance services
Other Social Infrastructure and Services
30/11/2012
European Union GrantMinistry of Labor, Social Protection and Family
273 43630/11/2014
532012 Annual Report on external assistance provided to the Republic of Moldova
14.Strengthening the link between migra-tion and development: testing an inte-grated service provider to Moldovan migrants and their communities
Other Social Infrastructure and Services
14/12/2012
European Union Grant
Rayonal CouncilCahul
372 560
- Rayonal CouncilEdinet
- Ungheni Town Hall
- Rayonal CouncilUngheni
- State Chancellery
14/12/2015 - Edinet Town Hall
15.
Improvement of water management and protection of priacvatic ecosystems of the Ramsar Area of the Lower Nistru
Water and Sanitation1/12/2012 Austria
Grant
- NGO Ecospectrum
358 512
- NGO Radoliubets
1/12/2014 - NGO Renasterea
16.Implementation of the target indicators of the Water and Health Protocol in Moldova
Health 20/06/2012
SwitzerlandGrant
- ApeleMoldovei Agency
753 471Water and Sanitation 19/12/2015 - Ministry of Envi-
ronment
17.Capacity -building of the local govern-ments in water sector management Water and Sanitation
20/09/2012United States of America
Grant Local Public Admin-istration
279 200
20/09/2014
18.Rehabilitation of the Sanitary Area in Canteens in the schools in Cazaclia and Konkaz villages in Gagauzia
Other Social Infrastructure and Services
18/09/2012United States of America Grant Ministry of Edu-
cation7 81118/09/2013
19.
Assistance for the amendment of the Housing Code which regulates the operation of the Housing Management Associations
Other Social Infrastructure and Services
2/10/2012
European Bank for Reconstruc-tion and Devel-opment Grant
Ministry of Regional Development and Constructions
259 0002/10/2013
54 2012 Annual Report on external assistance provided to the Republic of Moldova
20.
International Labor Organization Project - Survey of the transition from school to job of the young people in Moldova in 2013
Health
1/10/2012United Na-tions Grant
Ministry of Edu-cation
40 900
Other Social Infrastructure and Services
Ministry of Labor, Social Protection and Family
Ministry of Youth and Sport
1/7/2013- National Bureau of Statistics
21.
Procurement of modern medical diag-nostic equipment – key to the success-ful early diagnosis and appropriate treatment of patients Health
5/11/2012Japan Grant Ministry of Health 86 401
6/7/2013
22. Family is a priority – Rights of the child Now!
Education 1/11/2012
Austria GrantMinistry of Labor, Social Protection and Family
25 885Health 1/11/2014
23. Novateca Education
8/6/2012
United States of America
GrantPublic Libraries in Moldova 988 9218/6/2014
24. EdAgri – Education for Agriculture Education
1/6/2012
Liechtenstein GrantMinistry of Agri-culture and Food Industry
453 1111/6/2015
25.Improvement of education environ-ment in pre-school institutions in Orhei town
Education20/08/2012
Japan Grant Ministry of Edu-cation
67 046
20/08/2013
26.Development of Higher Education Quality System in Moldova Education
15/10/2012European Union Grant Medical University of
Moldova845 754
15/10/2015
27. Crossmedia and sound journalism Education15/10/2012 European Union
Grant
- Free International University of Moldova - ULIM
236 831- Ministry of Edu-cation
15/10/2015- State University of Moldova
28.Improving the social-economic situa-tion of young people in Moldova by empowering Moldovan youth and. Moldovan civil society
Other Social Infrastructure and Services
20/11/2012European Union Grant
Ministry of Labor, Social Protection and Family
367 33220/11/2014
552012 Annual Report on external assistance provided to the Republic of Moldova
29. Leadership and change management in higher education
Education15/10/2012
European Union Grant
- State University in Comrat
155 121- “A. Russo” State University in Balti
15/10/2015- State University in Moldova
30. Improvement of Vocational Educa-tion in TIC
Education 1/12/2012 Austria Grant Ministry of Edu-cation
540 697
31/05/2015
31.Procurement of PCs for student hostels
Education21/11/2012 People’s Repub-
lic of China Grant Ministry of Edu-cation
984 11021/11/2013
32.Support Program for the vocation-al education and training sector (VET)
Education30/11/2012 European Union
Grant Ministry of Edu-cation
5 000000
30/11/2014
33. Enhancing university autonomy in Moldova (EUNIAM)
Education15/10/2012
European Union Grant
- State University in Comrat
1 123344
- Technical University in Moldova
- Hasdeu State Uni-versity i n Cahul
- University of Medi-cine of Moldova
15/10/2015- State University of Moldova
34.Fostering sustainable and autonomous higher education systems in the East-ern Neighborhood
Education15/10/2012
European Union Grant
- Free International University of Moldova
189 956
- Ministry of Edu-cation
- Rectors’ Council in Moldova
15/10/2015- Hasdeu State Univer-sity in Cahul
35.Improving the quality of Moldovan democracy through parliamentary and electoral support
Government and Civil Society
4/7/2012Sweden Grant
United Nations Children’s Fund
3 649964
4/8/2016
56 2012 Annual Report on external assistance provided to the Republic of Moldova
36. Technical assistance – Economic stimula-tion in the Rural Areas (ESRA)
Government and Civil Society
26/11/2012
European Union Grant Government ofMoldova
3 00000026/11/2014
37. Enhancement of law enforcement insti-tutions (ROLIPS)
Government and Civil Society
1/3/2012
United States of America
Grant Ministry of Justice 3 5121601/3/2016
38. Local Government Support Project in Moldova (LGSP)
Government and Civil Society
22/02/2012United States of America
Grant Local Public Admin-istration
4 13099322/02/2016
39.Innovation Fund: Fostering transition towards inclusive and sustainable devel-opment of Moldova
Government and Civil Society
1/2/2012United Na-tions Grant Ministry of Edu-
cation61 280
31/12/2012
40. Improving the efficiency of the develop-ment assistance in Moldova
Government and Civil Society
1/3/2012United Na-tions Grant State Chancellery 155 57130/12/2013
41.Support to the Ombudsman insti-tute in Moldova Government and Civil
Society
1/2/2012United Na-tions Grant
Human Rights Center 906 240
31/12/2014
42.Program for enhancing the political responsibility and civic commitment in Moldova
Government and Civil Society
1/6/2012United States of America Grant NGOs
3 037971
1/6/2016
43.Moldova closer to Europe: Support for the Moldovan civil society and a sound business environment
Government and Civil Society
21/06/2012Slovakia
GrantNational Council of NGOs 65 639
21/06/2013
44.
Technical assistance and support for the National Agency for Regulation of Nuclear and Radiological Activi-ties in Moldova Government and Civil
Society
1/5/2012Sweden Grant
National Agency for Regulation of Nucle-ar and Radiological Activities 82 759
30/12/2013
45.Increasing Government Accountabil-ity by Monitoring the Justice Sector Reform
Government and Civil Society
19/09/2012European Union
Grant
Association for Effi-cient and Account-able Governance (AGER)
274 105
19/09/2014 Promo-Lex Asso-ciation
572012 Annual Report on external assistance provided to the Republic of Moldova
46.Integrated Support Programme for Inclusive Reform and Democratic Dialogue
Government and Civil Society
17/09/2012
European UnionGrant
Government and civil society 127 59318/05/2014
58 2012 Annual Report on external assistance provided to the Republic of Moldova
47. Capacity building for the Moldovan government’s capacity in diaspora
Government and Civil Society
1/10/2012 United Na-tions
Grant
Ministry of Economy
155 267
Ministry of Edu-cation
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration
Ministry of Internal Affairs
Ministry of Labor, Social Protection and Family
Organization for SME Development (ODIMM)
1/10/2013 State Chancellery
48.Capacity building for the Permanent Secretariat of the National Committee to Fight Trafficking in Persons in Moldova
Government and Civil Society
1/4/2012United States of America
Grant
Permanent Secretar-iat of the National Committee to Fight Trafficking in Persons in Moldova 77 760
29/09/2013
49.Enhancing the multidisciplinary approach in achieving and ensuring violence-free life
Government and Civil Society
1/7/2012United Na-tions Grant
Ministry of Health
155 520Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA)
29/12/2013Ministry of Labor, Social Protection and Family
50.Strengthening capacities of the Na-tional Platforms of the Eastern Part-nership Civil Society Forum
Government and Civil Society
1/12/2012 European UnionGrant REC Moldova 220 28231/05/2015
51.Contribution to the development partnership between Romania and Moldova
Government and Civil Society
27/08/2012United States of America
Grant Government ofMoldova
44 88827/08/2013
52.Civil Society Consolidation – Support for small civil society organizations and initiative groups in Moldova/Transnistria
Government and Civil Society
1/8/2012 United States of America
Grant NGOs 60 920
29/01/2013
592012 Annual Report on external assistance provided to the Republic of Moldova
Falesti
60 2012 Annual Report on external assistance provided to the Republic of Moldova
70.Restoration, Refurbishment and Main-tenance of the Premises of the National Assembly and Administration of TAU Gagauzia in Comrat
Government and Civil Society
5/11/2012Turkey Grant Comrat Town
Hall195 301
Construction 3/2/2013
71.Restoration, refurbishment and main-tenance of premises of TV and Radio Compact in Gagauzia (GRT)
Construction12/11/2012 Turkey
Grant Teleradio Gagauzia 228 67510/2/2013
72. Medieval Jewelry: Hotin, Soroca, Suceava Citadels
Tourism18/05/2012
European Union Grant Rayonal CouncilSoroca
3 380693
18/05/2014
73.
UNDP/ IOM/ UnWomen Joint Pilot Project on mainstreaming migration in the National Development Strategy of Moldova
Refugees in Donor Coun-tries
11/6/2012 SwitzerlandGrant
Ministry of Labor, Social Protection and Family
117 030
11/6/2013
74.Production of outreach materials for the third World Congress of Gagauz People Government and Civil
Society
1/11/2012 Turkey Grant Comrat Town
Hall18 4852/12/2012
75.Chisinau Urban Road Sector Project– Parking Strategy Transport and Storage
23/05/2012 European Bank for Reconstruc-tion and Devel-opment Grant Chisinau municipality 200 000
23/05/2013
76.Chisinau Urban Road Sector Project – Support and Supervision Implementa-tion Project
Transport and Storage21/12/2012
European Bank for Reconstruc-tion and Devel-opemnt Grant Chisinau municipality 761 50020/06/2015
77.Monitoring Road Traffic inMoldova Transport and Storage
27/10/2012 People’s Repub-lic of China Grant
Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA)
3 75491427/10/2013
78.Chisinau Urban Road Sector Project – Road Maintenance Strategy Transport and Storage
15/06/2012European Bank for Reconstruc-tion and Devel-opemnt Grant Chisinau municipality 99 574
15/06/2013
79.
Preventing a conflict in Transnistria by building bridges between NGOs, business communities, and mass media from Moldova, Ukraine, and Russia
Government and Civil Society
19/09/2012
European Union Grant NGOs 1 122006Business and other Services 19/09/2014
80. Assistance for Energy Sector Reform Energy Generation and Supply
5/6/2012European Union Grant Ministry of Economy 2 207
2503/12/2014
81.Sustainable Energy Planning in Eastern Europe and the Southern Caucasus: towards the Covenant of Mayors – Ukraine, Moldova and Azerbaijan
Energy Generation and Supply
17/09/2012European Union Grant Balti City Hall 112 697
18/07/2014
82.Cross Border Business Cooperation Network UA-RO-MD
Business and other Services4/4/2012
European UnionGrant
Ministry of Economy269 394
4/4/2013
83. Your Way to BusinessBusiness and other Services 21/03/2012 European Union
GrantMinistry of Economy
375 74319/01/2014
612012 Annual Report on external assistance provided to the Republic of Moldova
84.Supporting Centre for Cross-Border Business Environment – Training, Exhibition and Symposium
Business and other Services 4/4/2012 European UnionGrant
Ministry of Economy 1 763632
4/4/2014
62 2012 Annual Report on external assistance provided to the Republic of Moldova
85.USAID T r a d e , I n v e s t m e n t a n d B u s i n e s s A c c e l e r a t i o n P r o j e c t
Business and other Services5/6/2012
United States of America Grant
Ministry of Economy
7 234470Ministry of Finance
5/6/2016Main State Tax In-spectorate
86. Support for Trust Building Mea-sures II
Business and other Services1/4/2012
European Union Grant Reintegration Bureau 10 6240641/4/2015
87.Support for Moldova for Rules and Safety of Vegetable Products (TWINNING)
Agriculture
30/03/2012
European Union Grant
Food and Environ-ment Research Agen-cy of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, United King-dom
1 146000
27/09/2013
88.
Building capacities for elimination of dangerous chemicals from the former Soviet space as a model to approach and prevent pollution by use of pes-ticides
Agriculture1/3/2012
European Union Grant Ministry of Environ-ment
455 116
1/3/2015
89. Response to the drought in 2012 in Moldova
Agriculture13/08/2012 United Na-
tions Grant
Civil Protection and Emergency Service
155 520
13/08/2013Ministry of Agri-culture and Food Industry
90.
Creation and operation of laboratory for determination of pesticide residues in plants, soil and non-animal products
Agriculture12/12/2012
Romania Grant Ministry of Environ-ment
300 04312/12/2013
91.Development of business skills of small farmers in Moldova through increased knowledge transfer
Agriculture1/7/2012
Czech Republic GrantInstitute of Agricul-tural Economics 96 266
29/11/2013
92.
Capacity building of the National Accreditation Center in the field of Conformity Assessment of Products in Moldova (TWINNING)
Trade Policy and Regu-lations and Trade-related Adjustments
15/05/2012 European UnionGrant
National Council for Accreditation and Attestation
1 040000
15/05/2014
93.Support f o r t h e C o n s u m e r P r o -t e c t i o n A g e n c y (TWINNING)
Trade Policy and Regulations and Trade-related Adjustments 7/6/2012 European Union
GrantConsumer Protection Agency
1 0000007/6/2014
94. Competitive Agriculture Agriculture28/05/2012
SwedenGrant Ministry of Finance 19 547
586
28/05/2017World Bank Conces-
sional Loan
95. Increasing Competitiveness ProjectBusiness and other Services 14/12/2012
World Bank Concessional Loan
Ministry of Finance23 08770014/07/2013
632012 Annual Report on external assistance provided to the Republic of Moldova
96. Road Rehabilitation Chisinau Transport and Storage
16/10/2012
European Bank for Reconstruc-tion and Devel-opment Grant
Chisinau Municipality22 000000
European In-vestment Bank Conces-
sional Loan
15/04/2016European Union
97.Moldelectrica – Rehabilitation of Elec-tric Transport Network
Energy Generation and Supply 26/06/2012
European Bank for Reconstruc-tion and Devel-opment Grant
Ministry of Finance 40 363372
European In-vestment Bank Concessional
Loan
European Union
98.
Loan Agreement between Moldova and Unicredit Bank Austria for improvement of medical services of the Republic Hospi-tal in Moldova Health
2/7/2012UnicreditAustria
Concessional Loan
Ministry of Health 7 500000
30/06/2020
64 2012 Annual Report on external assistance provided to the Republic of Moldova
C. EXTERNAL ASSISTANCE AGREEMENTS SIGNED IN 2012
EUROPEAN UNION
10.01.2012 Financing Agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Moldova on the Trust Building Measures
06.03.2012 Financing Agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Moldova on the Framework Programme in support of the EU-Republic of Moldova agreements
27.04.2012 Financing Agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Moldova on support to the justice sector policy reforms in Moldova07.11.2012 Addendum 2 to the Financing Agreement between the European Union and the Government of the Republic of Moldova on 2006 Regional Programme 30.11.2012 Addendum 3 to the Financing Agreement ‘Sector Policy Support Programme Health’
30.11.2012 Financing Agreement on the European project ‘Support for the vocational education and train-ing sector’14.12.2012 Addendum No. 1 to the Financing Agreement on ‘Sector Policy Support Programme on Eco-nomic Stimulation in Rural Areas’
17.12.2012 Financing Agreement between the European Union and the Government of the Republic of Moldova on Moldelectrica power transmission network rehabilitationUNITED STATES OF AMERICA21.05.2012 Amendment 11 to the Letter of Agreement on Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement be-tween the Government of the Republic of Moldova and the Government of the USA20.09.2012 Second Amendment to the Assistance Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Moldova and the Government of the United States of America for Economic Growth20.09.2012 Second Amendment to the Assistance Agreement between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the Republic of Moldova for the Local Government Support Project20.09.2012 Second Amendment to the Assistance Agreement between the Government of the Unit-ed States of America and the Government of the Republic of Moldova for the Rule of Law Institutional Strengthening Program
WORLD BANK09.02.2012 Education for All Grant Agreement between the Ministry of Education of Moldova and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development
04.04.2012 Grant Agreement between the Ministry of Education of Moldova and World Bank on Quality of Education in Rural Areas
05.04.2012 Financing Agreement between the International Development Association and Moldova on the Agriculture Competitiveness Project
15.05.2012 Memorandum of Understanding and Disclosure Agreement between the Republic of Moldova and IBRD, IDA.27.06.2012 Grant Agreement between the Ministry of Finance of Moldova and IBRD ‘Consolidation of
public procurements’
30.07.2012 Grant Agreement between the Ministry of Health and World Bank on Strategic Planning of Information Management Reform in the Health Sector in Moldova
02.10.2012 International Development Association Program Document for a Proposed Credit to the Re-public of Moldova for a Competitiveness Development Policy Operation EUROPEAN BANK FOR RECONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT/ EUROPEAN INVEST-MENT BANK
22.05.2012 Loan Agreement ‘Moldelectrica Transmission Network Rehabilitation’
26.06.2012 Financial Agreement between EIB and the Republic of Moldova ‘Moldelectrica Power Trans-mission Network Rehabilitation’
21.09.2012 Loan Agreement between the city of Chisinau and EIB ‘Road Rehabilitation Project’
18.10.2012 Loan Agreement between the city of Balti and EBRD on public transport in Balti
COUNCIL OF EUROPE DEVELOPMENT BANK
16.06.2012 Framework Agreement between the Council of Europe Development Bank and the Republic of Moldova on Social Housing, phase II
GERMANY
21.11.2012 Minute Notes on Development Cooperation Negotiations between the Government of the Re-public of Moldova and the Government of the Republic of Germany
CZECH REPUBLIC 23.11.2012 Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Moldova and the Government of the Czech Republic on Development Cooperation
UNITED NATIONS16.11.2012 United Nations-Republic of Moldova Partnership Framework 2013 – 2017 “Towards Unity in Action”
AUSTRIA02.07.2012 Export credit Agreement concluded between the Republic of Moldova and UniCredit Bank Austria AG concerning the financing of improvement of medical services at the Republican Clinical Hospi-tal of Moldova
Monitoring and Evaluation Division,General Division for Policy Coordination, Foreign Aid and Central Public Administration Reform STATE CHANCELLERY1, National Grand Assembly Square, Chisinau, Republic of Moldova