THE WORLD BANK IBROQ* IDA I WORLDBKOROUP Date: 14-Nov-2022 His Excellency Mr. Dumitru Budianschi Minister Ministry of Finance Chisinau Republic of Moldova Excellency, Re: Republic of Moldova: Additional Financing for the Moldova Education Reform Project (Credit No. 6181-MD) Amendment No. 1 to the Financing Areement We refer to: (i) the Financing Agreement between the Republic of Moldova (the "Recipient") and the International Development Association (the "Association") dated March 12, 2018, for the above-mentioned Additional Financing for the Moldova Education Reform Project, as amended (the "Financing Agreement"); and to (ii) your letter dated July 13, 2022, informing the Association on the change of name of one of the Project implementing entities and requesting to amend the Financing Agreement accordingly. The capitalized terms used in this amendment letter (the "Amendment Letter") and not defined herein have the meanings ascribed to them in the Financing Agreement. We are pleased to inform you that the Association agrees to amend the Financing Agreement as follows: 1. Section 3.01. of Article III is hereby amended to read in its entirety as follows: "3.01. The Recipient declares its commitment to the objective of the Project. To this end, the Recipient shall. (a) carry out Parts A.1, A.3, B and C of the Project through the MOE; and (b) cause Part A.2 of the Project to be carried out by NORLD, all in accordance with the provisions of Article V of the General Conditions and Schedule 2 to this Agreement." 2. Section 4.01.(b) of Article IV is hereby amended to read in its entirety as follows: "4.01. The Additional Events of Suspension consist of the following: (b) that the Recipient's Government Decision No. 271 dated April 20, 2022, has been amended, suspended, abrogated, repealed or waived, in the opinion of the Association, so as to affect materially and adversely the ability of NORLD to carry out Part A.2 of the Project. 3. Part C() of the Project as set forth in the Project description in Schedule I to the Financing Agreement is hereby amended to be read in its entirety as follows: "(r) providing Project implementation, monitoring and evaluation support and coordinating with NORLD for purposes ofPartA.2 of the Project; and" 4. Sections I.A.2 and I.A.3. of Schedule 2 to the Financing Agreement on Institutional Arrangements, are hereby amended to read in their entirety as follows: "2. The Recipient shall cause NORLD to maintain, throughout Project implementation, adequate staff to support the implementation of Part A.2 of the Project, including, inter alia, a coordinator, a financial management officer, a procurement officer, and an environmental specialist, all with qualifications and experience, and under terms of reference, acceptable to the Association. 3. The Recipient shall: (a) update the POM; and (b) thereafter ensure that the MOE and NORLD carry out the Project in accordance with the provisions of the POM and shall not amend, waive or abrogate any provisions of the POM without the Association's prior approval." 5. Section I.B.1(a) of Schedule 2 to the Financing Agreement on Safeguards is hereby amended to read in its entirety as follows: "(a) The Recipient shall ensure that the Project is carried out in accordance with the Environmental Management Framework (EMF), and thereafter ensure that the applicable EMPs are implemented, in accordance with their terms and in a manner acceptable to the Association, ensuring that the civil works will not commence in any Receiving School, unless the EMP for the respective Receiving School has been prepared by the Recipient and/or NORLD, disclosed, consulted, and approved by the Association," 6. The definition of "Environmental Management Plan" in the Appendix to the Financing Agreement is hereby modified to read in its entirety as follows: * "Environmental Management Plan" or "EMP" means any of the Recipient's or NORLD's site-specific environmental management plans/environmental management plan checklists derived from the environmental assessments under the EMF that have been prepared and will be prepared during the implementation of the Project previous to the commencement of any civil works under the Project, all in a manner acceptable to the Association. 7. The definition of "NORLD" is hereby added to the Appendix to the Financing Agreement as follows, and the list of definitions is renumbered accordingly: S"NORLD" means the Recipient's National Office of Regional and Local Development, formerly MSIF, established pursuant to the Recipient's Government Decision No. 271 dated April 20, 2022, or any successor thereto acceptable to the Association." All the terms and conditions of the Financing Agreement that have not been amended hereby shall remain unchanged and in full force and effect. Please confirm your agreement with the foregoing by signing and dating the confirmation on the enclosed copy of this amendment letter and returning it to us. This Amendment letter shall be executed in two counterparts each of which shall be an original. This Amendment Letter shall become effective upon: (a) receipt by the Association of; (i) one countersigned original; (ii) a legal opinion acceptable to the Association, confirming that the execution and delivery of the Amendment Letter on behalf of the Recipient has been duly authorized by all necessary governmental action and that is legally binding upon the Recipient in accordance with its terms; (iii) an updated Project Operational Manual acceptable to the Association, and adopted by NORLD; and (iv) evidence satisfactory to the Association that the Amendment No. 4 to the Original Financing Agreement for the Project has been duly executed and all conditions precedent to its effectiveness (except for the effectiveness of this Amendment) have been fulfilled; and (b) dispatch by the Association to the Recipient of the notice of its acceptance of the evidence required herein. Please note that the restructuring paper dated September 19, 2022, has been disclosed on the Association's external website as per Association's policy on Access to Information. Sincerely, INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION Inguna Dobraja country Manager CONFIRMED AND AGREED: REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA By: _ 2_ Authorized Repres6ntative Nane ) I lTfR?-1 )D AUSQI Title: IMISTER OpP FNAUCE Date: UDUEHILER Ric 10e0