OREANDA-NEWS. June 04, 2010. As the press service of the Ministry of Economy has informed, it was discussed at the first meeting of the working group on the external assistance in the energy sector, which was held in Chisinau and chaired by the Deputy Minister of Economy Ilarion Popa.

The meeting was attended by representatives of EBRD, WB, IMF, Swedish International Development Agency, the UN Development Program, USAID, the EU delegation in Moldova, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sweden, the Embassy of Slovenia, as well as representatives of the State Chancellery, Ministry of Economy, ANRE, the State Energy Inspection, etc. During the meeting the parties noted the necessity of bringing the national legislation in the energy sector in line with the EU directive. In this regard, the meeting participants emphasized the adoption of the new laws on the natural gas and electricity, the accession of Moldova to the Energy Community Treaty, the development of the Concept of settlement of debts of enterprises of the branch, etc.

The meeting participants have outlined the prospects for the energy sector development and technical assistance from the development partners to harmonize the Moldovan legislation in accordance with the Energy Community Treaty, establishment of the Agency for Energy Efficiency and the Energy Efficiency Foundation, modifications to the current edition of the Energy Strategy to 2020, promotion of the draft energy efficiency program, etc.

The sides also emphasized the importance and feasibility of holding similar meetings in future. The development partners have highly assessed progress achieved by Moldova in the energy sector in 2009-2010.