The Moldovan authorities are waiting for the decisions that will be taken by Russia’s Federal Service for Phytosanitary and Veterinary Surveillance Rosselkhoznadzor as regards the resumption of export to the Russian market. In an interview for Radio Free Europe, Minister of Agriculture and Food Industry Ion Sula said each exporter and producer must have access to this market and these should not be divided by the geographic position or other criteria.
As to the lifting of the ban on the import of Moldovan wine by Russia, the minister said there is no answer in this respect yet. “We only know that last week two companies were allowed to export to Russia. They are to present their products for examination again so as to get this right. There will be more companies examined. We are waiting for the decisions of Rospotrebnadzor too,” he stated.
Ion Sula also said that a part of the wine products are exported to other markets too as the Moldovan wine producers diversified the export markets. “This does not yet mean that we must avoid the Russian market as this market is attractive and the consumers there know the Moldovan products and the Moldovan wine producers,” he stated.
Asked about the demands put forward by the farmers and the solutions these suggest, the minister said the agricultural producers that use diesel fuel to perform farming works should be exempted from paying excise duties. As to the zero tax rate on agricultural products, Ion Sula said a bill to this effect was already drafted following meetings with farmers and is to be debated in Parliament.
“As regards the access to financial resources, I want to say that we have a series of projects and preferential loans that are different from those provided by the banks – the loan Moldova’s Orchard to the value of €120 million, the Polish loan and the Wine Channel loan intended for winemakers and winegrowers. A part of the money is offered by the Millennium Challenge Account for the post-harvest infrastructure, including irrigation systems, which will be used through the 2KR implementation unit,” said the minister.
Ion Sula also said that there is a rather good dialogue and communication between the representatives of the Ministry and of the agriculture producers and they are ready to make effort to overcome the existing problems.
