Today farmers in Moldova don't have the capacity to fully benefit from the fruit import concession afforded by the EU, think acting agriculture minister Vasile Bumacov and his predecessor Valeriu Cosarciuc.

Speaking at a talk-show on Prime TV, Vasile Bumacov said it's unrealistic to think that Moldova will be able to export as much as 40,000 tonnes of fresh fruit to the EU markets in the near future. “Maybe we'll be able to fulfill this quota no earlier than in two or three years, at which point it will hopefully be increased. The European Union has increased the quota to encourage the farmers in Moldova”, said Bumacov.

Bumacov said the reasons impeding us from fulfilling the 40,000t quota are packaging, sorting and storage issues. As for the fruits' quality, the minister thinks they are quite competitive for the European market.

On a different note, Bumacov dismissed criticism that agriculture is in a miserable state. “The allegations that our agriculture is on the rocks are ill-founded. No other sector of our economy has such a big number of brands as agriculture. In recent years, we've seen spectaculars progresses in agriculture. Aside from the weather factor, this growth has been due to new technologies and investment, including through the government's support”.

At the same time, Valeriu Cosarciuc thinks that the government's contribution to agriculture is minimal, and because of this the Moldovan farmers won't be able to fully benefit from the EU's fruit import concession. “The Government didn't deliver on its promises regarding farmers' subsidies, with many applications left unsatisfied. The state's contribution in agriculture is just 14 euros per hectare, whereas the minimal contribution in the European countries is 150 euros.”

The former minister thinks that the Moldovan agriculture needs annual investments of 2 or 3 billion lei to become competitive at the European level.

On December 17, the European Parliament approved a proposal to open the EU market to some groups of fresh fruit imports from Moldova, in a bid to compensate Moldova's producers for their losses due to Russia's politically-motivated ban on imports. The measure will allow Moldova to export duty free 40,000 tonnes of apples, 10,000 tonnes of table grapes and 10,000 of plums.