By Olga Rosca

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has published the details of its investment in Moldova’s Giurgiuleşti International Free Port (Giurgiuleşti Port), one of the country’s key strategic assets.

The EBRD’s support for the project started in 1995, when it provided a US$ 27.5 million financing package, comprising debt and equity, to Terminal S.A., a joint entity that had entered into a concession agreement with the government of Moldova to construct and operate Giurgiulești Port.

The EBRD’s engagement continued with a series of complex financial restructurings to help the project overcome a number of difficulties, including the withdrawal of original investors. Since 2014, the port operator now called Danube Logistics SRL, its Dutch parent and, indirectly, the EBRD have been subject to various actions.

To safeguard port operations and to safeguard and protect its financial interests, the EBRD became the sole ultimate legal owner of the operator of Giurgiulești Port on May 7, 2021. Through its acquisition, the EBRD aims to support the port’s continued operation and will seek to attract international investors to support and develop this key infrastructure asset.

The EBRD is owned by 69 countries – including Moldova – as well as the European Union and the European Investment Bank. With cumulative investments of €1.4 billion in the country to date, the EBRD is the largest institutional investor in Moldova.