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Iurie LEVINSCHI and Bogdan BUHĂIANU, dialogue on European funds and regional development at FERM 2025: Lessons from Romania’s experience for the Republic of Moldova
REGIONAL ECONOMIC FORUM MOLDOVA
19th Edition – Vatra Dornei, July 9–13, 2025
Thematic Panel:
Regional and International Cooperation – Partnerships for Development
Speakers:
Bogdan Buhăianu – Deputy Mayor of Botoșani Municipality
Topic of intervention:
“The importance of pre-accession EU funds and the differences between small cross-border projects and larger budget projects”
Between July 9–13, Vatra Dornei hosted this year’s edition of the Regional Economic Forum Moldova (FERM 2025), a landmark event dedicated to the economic, social, and infrastructure development of the Moldova Region. The Forum brought together decision-makers, investors, experts, public administration representatives, business leaders, NGOs, and international institutions, creating a favorable framework for dialogue and cross-border cooperation.
A particularly significant moment was the dialogue between Iurie Levinschi, President of Hîncești District Council, and Bogdan Buhăianu, Deputy Mayor of Botoșani Municipality, a discussion focused on the opportunities and challenges of EU funds in the context of Moldova’s future accession to the European Union.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AN71NfoMnI8&t
EU Funds: Opportunities and Challenges
Botoșani’s Deputy Mayor, Bogdan Buhăianu, opened the discussion by underlining the importance of pre-accession funds in the process of regional development.
“You do not yet have other pre-accession funds of much higher value, such as we had in Romania, for example ISPA or Fares Apart. Cross-border projects are important, but the contract values are small, and rapid development is difficult.”
The response of Hîncești District Council President, Iurie Levinschi, highlighted that although there are EU funds larger than those available for cross-border projects, their implementation is often complex, requiring international cooperation and well-structured partnerships.
“There are much larger funds, but they are also much more complicated to implement. We want to attract partners from Romania to facilitate implementation and maximize the impact of the projects.”
Lessons from Romania’s Experience
The dialogue also highlighted the importance of lessons learned from Romania’s experience in absorbing EU funds. Buhăianu stressed that Romania went through periods of suboptimal absorption, but has now reached a level of over 100% utilization of available funds.
“It is very important to learn from our mistakes and to use the money at a 100% level to ensure continuous development.”
Levinschi emphasized that the Republic of Moldova is closely following the best practices of Romania and Poland.
“We, the Republic of Moldova, want to be prepared for these funds and to assimilate them efficiently, just as Poland did.”
The Deputy Mayor of Botoșani confirmed Romania’s progress and conveyed an encouraging message.
“Today, Romania has reached Poland’s level of absorption. We hope you will not make the same mistakes and that you will fully capitalize on the available funds.”
Conclusions and Perspectives
The dialogue between Levinschi and Buhăianu underlines two key ideas for Moldova’s regional development: the necessity of cross-border cooperation and the importance of efficient absorption of EU funds. Active participation in trainings and exchanges of experience with Romania offers the Republic of Moldova the opportunity to optimize development projects and accelerate its preparation for EU accession.
FERM 2025 has thus demonstrated that regional forums are not just meeting places, but also catalysts for knowledge transfer, strategic collaboration, and strengthening ties between communities in Romania and the Republic of Moldova, with the common goal of sustainable and integrated development within the European space.
