IPN interview: The farmers offered the authorities two weeks to take steps to deal with the serious problems faced in agriculture. Half of the term expired. The chairman of the National Farmers Federation of Moldova Valeriu Cosarciuc said that representatives of a number of agricultural organizations will meet in Chisinau next week to decide when to start the protests if the government continues to ignore their demands.
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 – What do the farmers think about the policies pursued by the authorities in agriculture?

 – We consider that the state policies in the agricultural sector are incorrect. We formulated a resolution with our demands and transmitted it to the authorities. We promoted the idea that the small farmers should be supported in Moldova. The young farmers, up to the age of 40, should also be supported and should be paid higher subsidies, of 60%, so as to attract young people to the rural areas.

70% of the agricultural output is produced by small farmers, but they receive only 20% of the Subsidization Fund and are thus not motivated. We suggested that the Subsidization Fund should be divided 50% for small farms and 50% for corporate farms. We also proposed regulating the size of the subsidy so that a beneficiary receives up to 400,000 lei. As a result, more farmers will receive subsidies.

A VAT of 20% was introduced for 2013 and we needed a long period of time to promote the idea that 12% of this money should remain in farmers’ accounts. The authorities decided that the VAT should be paid into the state budget, while 12% should be afterward refunded. We see that the fiscal policy for 2014 has the same provisions. We proposed that the VAT, even of 20%, should not be transferred to the budget, but should remain in farmers’ accounts for business development, as in Ukraine.

 – What about the market for selling agricultural products?

 – We experience problems here too and thus asked building an agrifood center in Chisinau so that the agricultural producers are able to collect orders and then sell their products on the home market or abroad. The Law on Consumer Protection isn’t working. There are monopoles on the market. Once they even sent freight cars from Moldova to other states so that our farmers could not export their products.

We also suggested creating a fund for intervention on the agricultural products market. When there is a surplus of products in the richer years, the state can buy these surpluses and intervene when there are shortages. Analyses show that the weather conditions for harvests are bad in Moldova each second year. One year we have good harvest and the products are sold at very low prices. The producers do not have money to invest in good seeds and fertilizers. The next year the harvest is very bad and there is again a shortage. By this intervention fund, we want to level prices out so that we do not sell the wheat for 5 lei per kg one year and then for 1.60 lei the next year.

We proposed amending the Law on Access to Oil Products Market so that the agricultural producers create cooperatives and have the right to import fuel directly from refineries. We also asked modifying the methodology for calculating oil prices. We determined that the profit margin in the import-sale chain in Moldova is two times higher than in any EU member state. The profit margin can be decreased, while the excises on oil products can be increased. The collected money – about 500 million lei a year - may be used to cover the fuel costs. In Romania for example, they cover the costs of diesel fuel used in agricultural works.

 – Why did you decide to resort to mass protests?

 – A meeting of Prime Minister Iurie Leanca and representatives of the agricultural producers was held in July. The Premier ordered working out and presenting a plan of action for solving the problems in agriculture within 10 days. It is three months since then, but no plan was designed. There were to be created commissions to monitor the implementation of this plan and to call a meeting with representatives of the Customs Service and the Tax Service to discuss the barriers. Nothing was done.

We didn’t resort to radical measures – pickets and protests. We adopted a common resolution and distributed it to the authorities. We gave them two weeks to take measures to deal with the problems faced in the agricultural sector. If solutions are not identified in the period, we will stage mass protests. The authorities behave so because our farmers are good. The farmers think that they must cultivate the land as they will not have what to harvest. They live with the hope that the government will start to act.

 – How does the Federation you head support the farmers?

 – The National Farmers Federation of Moldova has a major goal – to contribute to an increase in the revenues of the Federation’s members by its activities. We are implementing two projects to enhance the competitiveness of the Moldovan agricultural producers. The main activities include holding of training seminars on the access to the market, promotion of good practices and implementation of modern technology. We organize visits to the best farms in European states and exchange experience.

We have a special program for promoting the young farmers. We have an innovation fund that supports to a certain extent the young farmers working with innovation technology. We also have a program for supporting the women farmers. The Federation includes an association of women farmers. We cannot say that the number of women running businesses in agriculture rose, but there are women who manage their businesses very well.

 – The 16th exhibition ‘Farmer’ will take place on October 23-26. What will it include?

 – It is a traditional exhibit that has been mounted for many years. This year there will be presented the best practices for cultivating high value added products. The participating farmers will be able to meet with those who sell equipment and fertilizers. On October 24, we will have a special meeting where we will honor the women working in agriculture. We will also present information about the relations we have with farmers and producers of equipment from the Czech Republic. Within a program supported by the Czechs, we produced several films about the Moldovan farmers to show how it is like to be a farmer. We want to show that the businesses in agriculture can be successful in Moldova.

Mariana Galben, IPN