Moldova, wedged between Ukraine and Romania, has long been regarded as a watchword for corruption, money laundering, and the trafficking of women to neighbouring countries in Europe as prostitutes.

The power lines will transmit the electricity generated by two wind power plants with a capacity of 500 megawatts each.

The new loan followed a joint 110 million euro financial package by the EBRD, European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Union (EU).

The EBRD will finance half of a 7.82 million loan euro provided by Uzpromstroybank to local medical producer Samarkand England Eco-Medical.

Mine is expected to produce 190,000 tonnes of copper, including 20,000 tonnes of cathode copper by 2022.