“All those setting up barriers to exports are criminals”, stated Minister of Agriculture and Food Industry Vasile Bumacov in an interview with Info-Prim Neo, {published on 27 December} as part of the Year 2012 in the life of Moldova and its people” Series. Ministry of Agriculture employees who were caught involved in obstructionist actions were fired and the Ministry will continue to punish everyone who tries to obstruct exports, “since this is a matter of state security”, said Bumacov. The Minister said that this year was somewhat under the emphasis of an attempt to monopolize exports towards the Russian Federation. “We had this vice two years ago, we it was attempted that all exports of fruit and vegetables to go through 30 companies founded overnight, made in collaboration with criminal organizations from the Russian Federation. But we went to Russia, we made an agreement with those from Rosselkhoznadzor, made sure that this authority was not involved, came home and fired those who were involved; we negotiated with the Russian Federation, and managed to unblock exports”. The Minister added that while some were working hard to unblock exports to the Russian Federation, others tried again to redirect exports. “We launched an internal investigation, we notified the state bodies invested with investigation functions. I did my job; those who were involved in this endeavour were fired. As long as we have massive exports of fruit and vegetables, there will always be attempts to get a hold of this field, since it yields a lot of money.” Concerning this year's exports, the minister noted that exports to the CIS countries rose since it was a better year for wine, fruit and vegetables. “And what we export to the EU, i.e. cereals, we did not have. Once again, CIS exports were emphasized and the EU ones diminished. I am not saying it is bad, any market matters for us. But we would still like to export more to the EU. It means a more stable, wealthier market. This market also is for us a criterion through which quality and competitiveness are appreciated. If we export to the EU more, it means we are more competitive. These are this year's specifics, but we will see what next year brings”, said Agriculture Minister Vasile Bumacov in his interview with Info-Prim Neo.