OREANDA-NEWS. October 27, 2009. As it was informed in the Moldovan government, this was stated by the Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of China in Moldova Shi Longzhuang at the meeting with the Prime Minister Vladimir Filat. He noted that allocation of the named loan is provided by the Memorandum of Understanding which was signed in late July 2009 with the former Moldovan government. The Prime Minister Vladimir Filat thanked China for its continued assistance to Moldova, noting the importance of obtaining these funds for the country.

He also stressed the importance of negotiations and implementation of the joint projects. Vladimir Filat said that after the detailed study of the contents of memorandum signed with China, the new government of Moldova can say that the project is interesting for the country. "We are completely open for the discussion of the details of the loan’s allocation and establish clear principles for implementation of this project," - said the Moldavian prime minister.

As it was informed before, on July 23, 2009, the Minister of Construction and Territorial Development of Moldova Vladimir Baldovici and the president of the Chinese general external-engineering corporation COVEC Fang Yuanming had signed the corresponding Memorandum of Understanding. As Vladimir Baldovici has explained, according to the agreements, the loan worth US1 billion will be provided to Moldova under the state guarantees on the favorable terms: repayable in 15 years with 3-year deferment.

The interest rate has not yet been determined, but, as the Moldavian Minister noted, it would be beneficial for Moldova. Chinese funds are intended for implementation of infrastructure projects: roads, energy, water, construction of treatment plants, as well as agriculture and processing industry, creation of a high-tech industries, etc.

Projects will be selected on a competitive basis. Moldova already has ready projects on road restoration, estimated at US 300 million. On the whole, total cost of the road modernization projects in Moldova, which are already ready or require consideration, makes US1 billion. As Vladimir Baldovich noted, 90% of the total number of specialists engaged in the projects and funded by the loan, will be the citizens of Moldova.

It is expected that the projects will be implemented within six years. It is planned that on the basis of memorandum, China and Moldova will sign the Intergovernmental Agreement for the loan amounting to US 1 billion, which must be ratified by the parliaments of both states. It is expected that in case of successful completion of this process within 3-4 months, the first tranche of the credit will be received by Moldova till late 2009.

State Corporation COVEC-CREC is the largest construction company of China and the third construction company in the world. It includes 37 companies, 7 research institutes, consulting and design companies, construction of engineering projects company, 10 construction companies and 3 specialized engineering companies for construction of bridges, tunnels and electrical engineering. COVEC-CREC employs 280 thousand people. State Corporation has carried out more than 1,550 large projects in over 60 countries of the world. Some of them were included in the Guinness Records Book.

The American business magazine "Fortune" included COVEC-CREC in the list of 500 largest enterprises of the world. COVEC-CREC Corporation is empowered by the Chinese Government to participate in the conclusion of the foreign trade contracts and has offices in 23 countries of the world. Especially for work in Moldova and Eastern Europe countries, the company COVEC Eastern Europe, which has a construction license and is ready to carry out investment projects, was opened.