The State Agrarian University should become a scientific-teaching center of Moldova and should absorb the specialized science institutes that would formulate recommendations, policies and positions. The attack on its independence is a serious blow to the national agricultural sector, members of the parliamentary group of the Bloc of Communists and Socialists (BCS) stated in a news conference.
BCS considers the Agrarian University should remain an independent institution. That’s why the parliamentary group will insist on transparency and on public consultations on the reorganization of universities by merger (absorption). “We all know that this initiative appeared in the morning, without being consulted with the academia, employees of universities, students. Everyone learned about the reform from the press... They told us that consultations will be held under the parliamentary commission on agriculture and food industry, but these didn’t take place. We will therefore insist on raising this subject at the next sittings of Parliament so that the members of the government listen to the opinion of ordinary citizens,” said BCS MP Vladimir Odnostalco.
“We need to have a developed country so that we could supply at least ourselves with food products of a higher quality at reasonable prices and to be in export competition with other countries. Otherwise, we will have to choose between bread and gas,” said Radu Mudreac, BCS MP.
The MPs warned that the situation in the agricultural sector has worsened. “The wheat started to be harvested. The forecasts are rather gloomy. The situation in agriculture has worsened. The harvest will not be larger than 2.5 tonnes per hectare. Given that only 255,000 ha were sowed with wheat last autumn, at most 650,000 ha of wheat will be harvested this year, as opposed to 1.06 million tonnes last year. What will we do in winter and how much the bread will cost? It will definitely be much more expensive and we will not have what to export. This means the agricultural producers will have in pockets much less money than until now as the prices of imported products, primarily energy resources, have grown,” noted the MPs.
As the Ministry of Education and Research proposed, the Agrarian University is to be absorbed by the Technical University.
