A program promising to prepare joint Romania-Moldova projects and attract up to €1 billion in European investment is being developed by a private organization in Moldova whose founder is from Romania. However, Moldova’s Ministry of Infrastructure does not recognize the organization as having a coordinating role and warns that the mechanism proposed by the Center for Analysis and Planning of Regional Development (CAPDR) risks overlapping with the responsibilities of state institutions. Despite this, the NGO says the program is moving forward.
It remains unclear who granted the organization a mandate, what official status the program has and where the €1 billion figure comes from, TVR Moldova reports.
In June 2026, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Regional Development received a proposal for the so-called “Romania-Moldova Sustainable Interconnection Program.” The ministry rejected the initiative.
“We believe that a private entity, such as the aforementioned Center, should not have responsibilities that overlap with or replace decisions taken by the relevant ministries, as this contributes to creating an institutional imbalance. In view of the above, we do not support the Romania-Moldova Sustainable Interconnection Program, taking into account the issues mentioned,” the Ministry of Infrastructure and Regional Development said.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also stated that “defining areas of intervention and assessing the costs of such projects fall within the competence of the authorities.”
CAPDR describes the initiative as more ambitious than a simple consulting platform. The organization says it intends to play a role in preparing and implementing joint Romania-Moldova projects for the 2028–2034 period and presents itself as a technical actor in developing the program.
The question, however, is its mandate. Romania and Moldova already have public institutions, regional development agencies and bilateral mechanisms responsible for managing such projects.
“I do not know exactly whom they represent. It seems natural to me that the strategic relationship between Romania and the Republic of Moldova should be managed by public institutions, state institutions or institutions involved in the respective fields. I do not know in what capacity, under what mandate and in what way this center is trying to manage the relationship between Romania and the Republic of Moldova,” said Vasile Asandei, director general of Romania’s North-East Regional Development Agency.
Three months after receiving the ministry’s response, the NGO says it is still working on developing the program. Its representatives did not say whether they have received confirmation from the authorities.
“At the moment, we have a platform that resulted technically and financially from a joint project between CAPDR and the Chisinau Regional Development Agency. So our role through this platform is, technically speaking, to facilitate the program,” said Ion Ștefanovici, president of the Center for Analysis and Planning of Regional Development.
Asked whether the organization had official confirmation from the authorities in Chisinau to act as the technical coordinator, Ștefanovici replied:
“You decide how you view these confirmations. For example, last year, in Vatra Dornei, at the forum we organized in the same context, there were state secretaries from Bucharest and Chisinau. I consider these informal confirmations from our two states, which do not give us a blank check. Because they cannot do that. But they are alongside us; they are official development partners.”
Representatives of the Chisinau Regional Development Agency, an institution subordinated to the Ministry of Infrastructure and Regional Development that cooperates with CAPDR, described the organization’s role as providing consulting services to mayors’ offices in preparing projects and attracting investment.
“This is an NGO, an organization that wants to build its capacity in some way and help mayors’ offices, but it cannot be elevated to the governmental level,” said Sergiu Brînza, director of the Chisinau Regional Development Agency.
Asked whether this meant the program could not be implemented at government level, Brînza said it could not, but that it could be implemented with the help of local authorities.
“They provide a consulting service. And what is very important to mention is that for projects financed by the European Union, the costs of this consultancy are eligible. In other words, mayors’ offices could include this consultancy in the project and would not have to spend money from local budgets,” Brînza explained.
Vasile Asandei also said that any institutional cooperation aimed at developing Moldova’s regional component should involve regional development agencies.
“Obviously, if we are talking about institutional cooperation and developing this regional component in the Republic of Moldova, this relationship should be with the regional development agencies. I do not believe that a private institution, whose expertise I do not know and whose ability to manage such a relationship I am not familiar with, can do this. Obviously, there may be an interest or aspects related to consultancy, but that is something else,” Asandei said.
The program, however, is not presented by the NGO merely as a consulting platform. According to statements by the organization, it is expected to mobilize European investments that could reach €1 billion.
The Chisinau Regional Development Agency said it was unaware of any such figure being established at government level.
“Many people have asked me where Mr. Ștefanovici got this figure from. It is probably based on his own intuition, because I have not heard it anywhere at government level,” Sergiu Brînza said.
CAPDR’s public activities also cover areas extending beyond regional development projects. The organization has addressed political dialogue and cooperation with China and has been involved in preparing a medical delegation from Romania and Moldova to attend a meeting in China.
The question remains to what extent the program proposed by CAPDR is compatible with mechanisms and strategic documents already approved by Moldova. Relevant documents include the National Development Strategy “European Moldova 2030” and Moldova’s National Accession Program to the European Union for 2025–2029.
However, based on the responses obtained by TVR Moldova, there is so far no evidence of an official mandate appointing the organization as technical coordinator of a bilateral Romania-Moldova program.