The European Commission has released a further €157 million to Moldova under its growth plan for the country, after assessing that Chișinău had completed 18 agreed reform steps.
The payment was announced on October 5, as the European Union and Moldova held the 10th meeting of their Association Council in Brussels, chaired by EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas. Moldovan Prime Minister Vasile Tofan led his country’s delegation and Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos represented the Commission.
It is the third regular disbursement under the €1.9 billion Reform and Growth Facility, which runs from 2025 to 2027, and brings the total made available to Moldova to €661 million.
Kos said the money reflected Moldova’s “determination to advance on the path to European integration”. The steps assessed covered all seven areas of the plan: private sector development, economic resilience, economic governance, social cohesion and the labour market, energy, the green transition and good governance.
Not every commitment was delivered. Moldova completed 18 of the 20 steps due in the first half of 2026 and 46 of 48 measures scheduled so far under its reform agenda, public broadcaster Moldova 1 reported.
Payments under the facility rise with the number of conditions met, so missing individual indicators reduces the sum released rather than blocking it, although failure on a single key milestone would freeze a tranche altogether.
Brussels proposed the plan in October 2024 and has called it the largest stand-alone financial support package for Moldova since independence, intended to speed up economic convergence and gradual entry into the EU single market.
Just over a third of the €1.9 billion has been made available so far. Commissioner for Economy Valdis Dombrovskis said in Chișinău that around 40 further reforms were due by December and another 57 were planned for 2027, among them changes to State enterprises and public administration.
The cash arrives at an awkward moment for Moldova. Tofan, a former private equity executive whose government took office in July with accession as its stated priority, is facing opposition moves to suspend President Maia Sandu and a series of Russian drone incursions into Moldovan airspace, local media reported.
Moldova applied for membership in March 2022 and was granted candidate status three months later. It wants to sign an accession treaty by the end of 2028, with Deputy Prime Minister Eugen Osmochescu having said union with Romania would be the alternative if that path stalled.
