Forty three entrepreneurs of Moldova to receive grants worth 14 million lei on behalf of government, European Union

Chisinau, 30 October /MOLDPRES/ - A number of 43 small- and medium-sized companies of Moldova will benefit from grants worth 14 million lei in all on behalf of the Moldovan government and the European Union. The non-refundable support provided will generate overall investments in the economy worth 25 million lei. The grants’ beneficiaries were announced in Chisinau today.    

Thus, 27 companies will benefit from funds on behalf of the European Union, totaling almost 7 million lei. Moldova’s government will financially support another 16 companies, with a total sum of 7 million lei.

Attending the event, Deputy PM, Economic Development and Digitalization Minister Dumitru Alaiba said that, during this year alone, over 1,500 entrepreneurs had benefited from support through programmes of the Organization for Entrepreneurship Development (ODA) and 500 of them received grants from state budget’s and development partners’ resources. ‘’We removed bureaucratic barriers, which save for business people at least 1.5 billion lei annually. The entrepreneurs are the most digitalized category of the population, as 80 per cent of the entrepreneurs’ interactions with the state are already digital. This is an impressive record,’’ Alaiba said.          

The deputy head of the Cooperation Sector of the European Union’s Delegation in Moldova, Adam Grodzicki, stressed that the providing of the grands was a proof of appreciation of the efforts made by entrepreneurs. ‘’The fact is encouraging that we see an ever larger number of applications for ODA programmes, through which small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are backed. This perspective for Moldova to be EU member and become part of the single market can bring a positive impact both for Moldova’s economy and for the society as a whole,’’ Adam Grodzicki said.    

ODA director Vadim Codreanu said that over one third of the grants provided today were meant for the processing industry. ‘’This means that we increase the value added within our businesses. Thus, we no longer sell raw material, but orient ourselves to sell finished products with high value added, which will be appreciated both on our market and on the EU’s market,’’ Vadim Codreanu noted.     

During this year, the Organization for Entrepreneurship Development assisted 479 companies in accessing grants worth over 197 million lei. Almost 143 million lei of this sum comes from the state budget and 40 million lei was provided by the European Union through the EU for SMEs project.    

Also, the World Bank, through the Programme on Enhancement of Competitiveness to Export and Internationalization of SMEs, backed 18 companies with funds worth 6.4 million lei.   

At the same time, through the Programme on Support of Digital Innovations and Technological Startups, 20 companies benefited from non-refundable grants amounting to 8.5 million lei in all, with the financial support of the Ukraine-Moldova American Enterprise Fund, in partnership with the Future Technologies Activity in Moldova Project, financed by USAID, Sweden and the United Kingdom.