The protests and the blocking of the Leușeni-Albița border crossing point represent a farmers’ cry of despair at the indifference and inaction of the authorities, said former minister of agriculture Nicolae Ciubuc. In the same connection, the mayor of Leova Alexandru Bujorean said that the government should engage in a constructive dialogue and look for solutions to farmers’ problems. On the other hand, PAS MP Oazu Nantoi wondered whether the people who block the border crossing point are representative of agriculture in Moldova, IPN reports.
Mayor Alexandru Bujorean noted that the way the government chose to communicate with the protesting farmers is intolerable. The authorities should leave their offices and go to the protesters to listen to their demands.
“The problem resides in how they communicate with these people. If some of the officials spoke two-three notches lower and didn’t speak from a press conference, but listened to farmers, they would understand the essence of the problem. What does it mean when a minister of agriculture, one year after the Romanian Government adopted two emergency ordinances on the allocation of diesel fuel, says in a news conference that the Republic of Moldova doesn’t have two tanks? The way they answer is not the most appropriate. The government answers only the questions that is comfortable to answer. Why don’t they react to what farmers have been saying for years about big sharks in agriculture, about Trans-Oil?” the co-chairman of the League of Cities and Communes Alexandru Bujorean stated in the program “Secrets of the Power” on JurnalTV channel.
Ex-minister of agriculture Nicolae Ciubuc said that the authorities manipulate figures and the amount of 6 billion lei announced by Prime Minister Dorin Recean for subsidizing agriculture in 2020-2023 is incorrect.
“It’s a cry of despair at greater inaction and indifference on the part of the authorities. The Prime Minister announced that 6 billion lei has been disbursed from 2022 until now. Many reproached farmers for receiving 6 billion lei, which is absolutely wrong. I examined the state budget laws for the recent years and it goes to about 4 billion lei. It is a large amount, but it is not 6 billion. Their demands include the payment of the overdue subsidies for last year, which is absolutely necessary, the rescheduling of interest rates, penalties, and the identification of funds to partially cover the losses incurred by farmers,” stated Nicolae Ciubuc, deputy chairman of the European Social Democratic Party.
For his part, MP of the ruling party PAS Oazu Nantoi described the farmers’ request to discuss with the country’s leadership in Leușeni as a political challenge.
“To what extent are the people who blocked the customs post representative of Moldovan agriculture? When someone demands that the President and the Prime Minister come there, it’s either absolute civic illiteracy or a political provocation because the socioeconomic problems are solved by the Government, which comes up with proposals to amend the budget in Parliament. If we all gather there, resort to psychotherapy and wail, this will not solve the problem,” stated Oazu Nantoi.
The executive director of the Farmers’ Force Association Alexandru Slusari announced that on Thursday, starting at 9:30, the Leușeni-Albița border crossing point will be blocked again. Slusari noted that the farmers apologize to the population and economic agents, but they do not have another way out when the Government and Parliament show demonstrative neglect.
