As many as 31 tonnes of pesticides gathered in Sangerei, Drochia, Edinet and Balti municipality were collected from the store in Alexandreni village of Sangerei district on June 28. This is the last stockpile of the 1,269 tonnes of chemical substances gathered and transported to Poland for being destroyed as part of the NATO – Partnership for Peace Project. The total value of the project was €2.2 million, IPN reports.

Attending the project completion event, Prime Minister Pavel Filip said the mayor’s offices of the 400 communities where there were stockpiles of pesticides in time signaled an increase in the number of diseases in those areas. “The defective management of stockpiles of pesticides in the Soviet period left us an inheritance that is hard to be managed. We permanently faced challenges related to food safety and ecological security. I’m glad that our country became a safer area in the region now and is not only a consumer, but also a provider of security,” stated the Premier.

For professionalism in accomplishing missions, six soldiers of the National Army were awarded Government diplomas.

A number of 7,245 tonnes of pesticides remained in Moldova since the Soviet period. Starting with 2003, 1,269 tonnes were packed, transported and destroyed in Poland as part of the NATO project to destroy pesticides and chemicals in Moldova. Another 1,976 tonnes were transported and destroyed in France as part of other projects financed by foreign partners.

There are 4,000 more tonnes of pesticides buried at a store in Cismichioi village of ATU Gagauzia. The authorities have discussions with the Czech Development Agency for implementing a project to destroy these.