EU Connectivity Agenda Platform launched in Brussels: Moldova strengthens role as regional logistics hub through new infrastructure projects

The European Union Connectivity Agenda Platform and the first regional dialogue on Europe–Asia transport corridors were launched in Brussels today. The initiative aims to strengthen connections in transport, trade, energy and digitalization along the Trans-Caspian Corridor, which links Europe to Central Asia via the South Caucasus, while Moldova is consolidating its role as a regional logistics hub in this context through new EU-supported infrastructure projects.

European Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Marta Kos has announced the launch of the Platform. Moldova was represented at the event by Deputy Prime Minister, Infrastructure and Regional Development Minister Vladimir Bolea, who took part in discussions on strengthening connectivity and integrating transport networks regionally.

During the panel titled, Future prospects of the Trans-Caspian Transport Corridor in the Black Sea and South Caucasus region, the discussions focused on the 2030 horizon and the conditions needed for these corridors to become faster, more coherent and more integrated.

In the context, Deputy Prime Minister Vladimir Bolea underlined Moldova’s direction of strengthening connectivity with the European Union and the wider Black Sea area by liberalizing transport and developing the main connecting routes across all modes of transport. They include the development of an electrified railway, a motorway and a bypass road, the full use of port infrastructure capacity and the creation of logistics hubs for cargo handling.

The discussions also addressed cooperation between Moldova and Ukraine, in the context of integration into the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T), as well as the progress and bottlenecks affecting the working of regional corridors.

Deputy Prime Minister Vladimir Bolea referred to ongoing projects, including the modernization of border crossing points and studies for strategic connections, such as Ungheni–Chisinau–Odesa, with a direct impact on transport times and logistics capacity. At the same time, the official reaffirmed Moldova’s intention to strengthen its role as a regional logistics hub between the European Union, Ukraine and the wider Caucasus and Central Asia region.

At the end of the meeting, Moldova, the European Commission and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development signed a Declaration of Intent, through which the European Union expresses its readiness to support the modernization of strategically important road corridors that are part of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T), as well as the reform of the roads’ sector.

The project will specifically support the development of a Road Sector Master Plan, including a Road Financing Strategy, the implementation of a multiannual contract, to ensure long-term funding stability for the National Road Administration, the preparation of an Action Plan on corporate governance and broader support for the implementation of the e-mobility Strategy.

At the same time, Moldova, the European Commission and the European Investment Bank marked the launch of the preparation phase for the feasibility study on the development of an electrified railway with European gauge on the Ungheni–Chisinau route. In this regard, the sides discussed possibility of providing advisory support through the EPIC Facility, an EU instrument created to support infrastructure projects that contribute to strengthening regional connectivity.