OREANDA-NEWS. June 18, 2012. Rolf Wenzel and his team is on a visit to Moldova occasioned by the meeting of the Council of Europe Development Bank's management board, due in Chisinau.

The sides discussed Moldova's cooperation with the Council of Europe Development Bank, the reforms implemented in the country and the bank's support in this respect.

The prime minister praised the fruitful cooperation with the Council of Europe Development Bank. Presently, the bank finances healthcare projects in Moldova, such as the reconstruction and renovation of the Republican Clinical Hospital and the construction of houses for less well-off Moldovans. At the same time, Moldova benefits from a subvention fund of 5.9 million euros for the compensation of the interest rates for all the loans given by the Council of Europe Development Bank.

Two projects will be discussed at the meeting of the Council of Europe Development Bank's management board on 15 June - the modernization of the blood transfusion centre and the second stage of the construction of social dwellings.

Taking into account the bank's capacity to finance social projects, Filat highlighted the need to boost the Council of Europe Development Bank's activity in its main fields, as well as to extend its operations in such fields as the drinking water and sewerage supply, the modernization of the penitentiaries' infrastructure and the preservation of the cultural patrimony.

For his part, Rolf Wenzel said that Moldova was the first country to express its willingness to host the meeting of the Council of Europe Development Bank's management board. He praised the implementation of the projects in Moldova, highlighting the bank's willingness to extend its cooperation with Moldova.

"Moldova is among our best partners and we will further cooperate with you in order to launch social projects," Rolf Wenzel said.

The governor of the Council of Europe Development Bank urged the Moldovan government to press ahead with the implementation of a well though-out social strategy. In the context, Filat said that the education field is a priority for the current government. He also spoke about the implementation of new technologies in this field.

Moldova became a member of the Council of Europe Development Bank in 1998. The above institution is a multilateral development bank, dealing with social problems. The institution takes part in social projects, emergency assistance programmes, contributing to the improvement of living conditions of the under-privileged people. The Council of Europe Development Bank implements socially-oriented investment projects through three sectoral policies: consolidation of the social integration, environmental management and support to the social public infrastructure.