As a result of the an open call, there were selected 12 innovative development ideas of the rural areas out of 117 received applications. These ideas represent interventions for the development of the rural tourism, promotion of the smart beekeeping, medical and fragrant plants, and also the implementation of the modern technologies in the domain of agriculture. The selected entrepreneurs have been invited to the event to symbolically celebrate and sign the funding contracts.

Working with the resources and the local potential is one of the goals of the Fund, and the entrepreneurs’ initiatives will be funded from the total budget of MDL 3,866,520.00.

“The European Union will continue to support the initiatives that offer development chances to every inhabitant of the rural areas. Today, we mark a new step forward to let our dreams transition into reality, and the EU — LEADER Flagship Initiatives Fund sets an example that will guide others. The EU highly appreciates the established partnerships with the Republic of Poland and the National LEADER Network in the Republic of Moldova and will continue to assist development initiatives”, Peter Michalko, the chief of the European Union in the Republic of Moldova, declared.

His Excellency, the Ambassador of the Republic of Poland to the Republic of Moldova, Bartłomiej Zdaniuk, mentioned that the Poland’s experience has shown that it is possible to implement many things through the effort of the people at the local level and we already have, in the Republic of Moldova, examples of positive changes. “We’re convinced that these projects will substantially contribute  to the improvement of the living conditions in the regions that you inhabit, because there are no small projects — all the projects are important. With small steps, we will build great things”, he added.

These 12 selected projects will serve as development models for the local communities. Based on this experience, there will be development methodologies that will be multiplied and adopted by other businesses.

Sergiu Gurau, the founder of the social businesses Floare de Cires — one of the selected projects, has mentioned that thanks to the Fund’s support, the organisation will create even more opportunities for young people from the rural areas, especially for the ones with special needs.

Thanks to the Fund’s support, the founder of the Vilador Farm, Viorel Prisacari, says that he would consolidate the clustering concept — an innovation for the Republic of Moldova, that will increase the activity of the rural and agricultural tourism together with other service providers and, thus, he will diversify the range of services and will use the good practices from Poland.

The EU — LEADER Flagship Initiatives Fund 2020 is created within the “LEADER approach for rural prosperity in Moldova” project, financed by the European Union and Polish Aid, managed by Solidarity Fund PL in Moldova and National LEADER Network in the Republic of Moldova. Strategic partner — the Ministry of Agriculture, Regional Development and Environment.