The apple and grape growers that were affected by the import restrictions imposed by Russia will receive compensatory grants. The assistance is intended for producers with farms of less than 15 hectares, Minister of Agriculture and Food Industry Ion Sula told a news conference, quoted by IPN.

The allocation of compensations became possible after Parliament on May 28 ratified the agreement on the additional financing for the Moldova Agricultural Competitiveness Project (MAC-P), signed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry and the International Development Association of the World Bank Group.  Based on the agreement, Moldova will receive a loan of US$12 million. The World Bank’s intention is to help small and medium-sized producers restart their businesses following the sustained losses, said the minister.

Director of the Agency for Payments and Intervention in Agriculture Petru Maleru said the plum producers received compensations last year. The apple producers filed applications also in 2014. Thus, the compensations for 75,000 tonnes of apples will be paid immediately. Applications for compensations for the technical sorts of grapes can be submitted during the next two-three weeks so that the payments could be made without delay.

The US$12 million will be used to provide targeted compensatory grants to apple and grape growers, who sold their produce domestically for processing in the fall of 2014. The grants will compensate about 50% of the difference between the estimated normal price and the processing sales price in 2014.
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The loan is repayable in 25 years, with a grace period of five years, at an interest rate of 1.25%.