The future bloc ACUM considers the government is to blame for the situation experienced by fruit producers this year, when they had to leave the fruit on trees. ACUM staged a public event in which it distributed apples and walnuts to drivers in Chisinau, calling on them to support the national producers by purchasing national products, IPN reports.
According to vice president of the Party “Platform Dignity and Truth” (PPPDA) Alexandru Slusari, ACUM accuses the current Government of incompetence and blames it for the situation of apple and walnut producers. “Of the over 600,000 tonnes of fruit produced in 2018, only 20% were exported. The state does not help process the fruit locally, allowing the processing enterprises to decide the fruit prices themselves. This leads to the bankruptcy of our farmers. This is the blame of the administration of the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Economy,” stated Alexandru Slusari.
PPPDA vice president Inga Grigoriu said the disseminated images of fruit left on trees show the disastrous state in which the farmers are now. A caring government would not allow tonnes of fruit to be lost and would prevent cartel agreements that favor family businesses of government officials and monopolies.
According to the executive director of the National Farmers Federation Vasile Myrzenko, agriculture and the farmers saw insulting and irresponsible treatment during the independence years, especially during the past few years. The access to financing is limited owing to the too strict lending rules. The farmers also do not have access to the agricultural market due to monopolist companies.
Radu Marian, a member of the Standing Political Bureau of the Party “Action and Solidarity”, spoke about the cartel agreements existing on the walnuts and apple markets. According to him, only three companies have certificates that allow exporting to the EU and one of this is run by a person related to Prime Minister Pavel Filip. The lack of support on the part of the state for obtaining export certificates and the excessive harvest are among the reasons for the experienced situation.
To improve the situation of farmers, the representatives of the future bloc ACUM said that shortly after they take over after the elections, they will ensure the independence and functionality of the Competition Council that will counteract all the cartel agreements and will create mechanisms for national processing companies to buy national products. There will also be initiated training programs on marketing so as to increase the attractiveness of products on foreign markets.
