S.A. “Apă-Canal Chișinău” signed on Wednesday, 21 October, with the TURBOENERGY POWER & MASS joint venture a contract of about 170,613,060 lei to complete works at the wastewater treatment plant. Mayor Ion Ceban announced the signing. A contract, not a plant already finished.

The tender followed European Bank for Reconstruction and Development procurement rules. Bids were opened on 6 May 2026. The document covers work left undone after the previous contractor went insolvent. A restart on paper, not a handover of the site.

Radio Moldova, from the press conference, writes that the modernisation begun eight years ago is due to finish in more than 18 months. Ceban said he hoped for a shorter term, depending on weather and other factors. A contractual horizon and a hope, not an inauguration date.

The same report sets out the history: preparation from 2015, a contract of about EUR 24.2 million awarded in 2017 to a German consortium, works from 2018, insolvency of a member at the end of 2021, termination in the summer of 2023, when completion was then estimated at about 87%. A figure from then, not a percentage for today.

Ceban spoke of the decay in 2019 and said that for seven years “Chișinău no longer stinks.” His account, not a laboratory reading. He thanked the EBRD, the EIB, the European Union and the Neighbourhood Investment Facility. MOLDPRES listed the signing, at 12:00, on the official agenda, at the plant on 24 Lunca Bâcului Street.

Until a handover, the closed fact is the signed contract. Works are to resume. This is not a finished plant.

Image: Parliament of the Republic of Moldova, Chisinau wastewater plant, 4 March 2020, public domain, Wikimedia Commons; the 2020 site, not the 21 October 2026 signing.

Sources consulted: Works at the Chisinau wastewater plant to resume. Contract of over 170 million lei - ziar.md; 170 million lei contract to complete upgrades at the wastewater plant - Radio Moldova, 21 October 2026.