Bulgaria and the United Nations have signed the agreement on a development project in Taraclia, a city and adjacent region in Moldova with a predominant ethnic Bulgarian population.

Sofia's Embassy to Chisinau has provided EUR 275 000 to help improve water supply in the region, local news outlets report.

The money will also help repair the roof of the Taraclia State University of Gregory Tsamblak (named after a Medieval Bulgarian writer and cleric).

Dafina Gercheva, the Moldova representative of the United National Development Program (UNDP), is quoted by state-run Moldpres agency as saying the joint will of both parties to the agreement is to improve living standards for the roughly 44 000 citizens of Taraclia.

Two-thirds of Taraclians have Bulgarian roots. Many suggest that over the decades, however, Bulgaria has failed to pursue consistent policies to address the needs of its minority in Moldova, which according to a 2004 census numbers around 80 000 people in a country of nearly 3 million (though nationalist fractions in Bulgaria claim the figure is much higher).

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