MOSCOW, October 15 (RIA Novosti) - Russia is set to resume talks on a $150 million loan with Moldova's new government, the president's press secretary said on Thursday.
Natalia Timakova told reporters that Moldovan Prime Minister Vlad Filat reaffirmed interest in the loan, which had been agreed with the country's former communist president Vladimir Voronin, at talks with Russian officials last week.
"Talks on the loan will be resumed," Timakova said.
Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said last week Russia had set aside the money, and discussions on the loan would be held in November.
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin agreed in June to provide Moldova with a $500 million loan for investment programs requested by Voronin. The first tranche of $150 million was to be transferred within a few months.
Filat, nominated as premier by a pro-Western coalition that won the July 29 elections, has set Moldova's integration into the European Union and overcoming the economic crisis in Europe's poorest nation as the government's top priorities.
He has also pledged to step up ties with NATO, and spoke out in favor of replacing Russian peacekeepers in Moldova's breakaway Transdnestr region with an international contingent.
The country has been plagued by political instability since communists lost the July polls. The government has been formed, but parliament is still to elect a president on October 23. But the Alliance for European Integration may fall short of votes without the support of communist lawmakers.
Timakova said the talks between Filat and Kudrin and First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov were "constructive," and they "pledged commitment to developing ties."
