OREANDA-NEWS. September 27, 2010. Prime Minister Vlad Filat chaired a cabinet meeting, the government's communications and media relations department has said.

The government approved a decision on the initiation of talks on a loan agreement between the Republic of Moldova and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), in order to implement the project for Rural Financial Services and for the Development of Agricultural Business in Moldova.

Finance Minister Veaceslav Negruta said that once the agreement is signed, Moldova would benefit from a loan of 20 million dollars, with an annual interest rate of 0.75 per cent, a reimbursement term of 40 years and a grace period of 10 years.

Filat said that these financial means would be used for agriculture and the project would be implemented in 2011-2015. After this project is successfully carried out of, Moldova is likely to obtain a 20-million-dollar grant.

During the today's meeting, the cabinet approved the regulation on exemption from the Value Added Tax on the import of raw material, items and supplies needed for societies of people with disabilities.

Veaceslav Negruta said that the commission set up by the regulation was going to specify the list of organizations and enterprises that would benefit from these privileges. The list will comprise enterprises and organizations with less than 30 employees, half of whom are persons with disabilities.

Filat stressed that the process should be kept under tough control in order to make sure that only those persons enjoy the facilities.

Under another governmental decision, 15,000 tones of wheat from the state material reserve will be given to large bakeries named by the regional and municipal councils and the central Moldcoop Union, in order to ensure people s food security.

"We carry out these actions in order to provide Moldovan citizens with accessible bread," Vlad Filat said in the context. He asked that the Agriculture and Food Ministry and the Agency for Material Reserves should quickly implement this governmental decision.

The government approved a draft law on the amendment of the Electoral Code, reducing the period of electoral campaigns from 60 to 30 days, at the initiative of MP Mihai Godea.

Another draft on the amendment of the Electoral Code, approved by the government, sees the removal of any mandatory voter turnout for all sorts of polls held in Moldova.

Under another governmental decision, all Moldovans will get their first ID cards free of charge. Until now, only citizens that had reached the age of 16 have benefited from this privilege.

At the proposal of the Deputy Premier Victor Osipov, the cabinet approved a decision on the creation and activity of commissions dealing with applications by citizens residing in Transnistria.

Also, the cabinet approved a decision on a Chisinau-based building from 24, N. Iorga Street, revoking its status of presidential residency. In this respect, the decision of the Moldovan government, No. 319 from 03.04.1997, had been changed.

At the today's meeting a string of inter-ministerial, international organization agreements, and other documents had been approved.