The Polish loan of €100 million provided to Moldovan farmers in May 2014 was missed owing to the authorities. The issue was developed in the talk show “Place for dialogue” on the public station Radio Moldova, IPN reports.
Radu Mudreac, who heads the parliamentary commission on agriculture and food industry, said the Government deliberately crated obstacles to famers in accessing the loan offered by the Government of Poland. “It is a tragic situation and a destructive policy. The Ministry of Finance ignored the applications of farmers. It lobbied for commercial banks. The Government’s decision to authorize the commercial banks to distribute the Polish loan is unjustified. The interest on the loan will be higher and will not be so accessible to farmers, especially the beginning ones,” stated the MP.
Valeriu Cosarciuc, chairman of the National Farmers Federation of Moldova, said the Moldovan farmers were offered a cheap loan for the first time, but this was missed owing to the authorities. “The Polish loan was intended mainly for beginning farmers who do not possess assets to secure bank loans. The Government didn’t discuss with us the decision to distribute the money provided by Poland. The banks will raise the interest and this loan will no longer be attractive to Moldovan farmers,” he said.
Unaffiliated MP Ion Balan expressed his optimism that the Government of Poland will extend the lending agreement for Moldovan farmers. “I think it is possible to prolong it. Poland is interested in helping the Republic of Moldova,” he stated.
On May 14, 2014, the Government of Moldova and the Government of Poland signed an agreement to provide an assistance loan of €100 million for financing projects in agriculture and food processing industry. A number of scandals around this loan stopped the disbursement of the money. Only two projects to the value of €2 million have been approved so far. The Government of Moldova on June 29 decided that the loan will be managed by the Ministry of Finance already, through selected financial institutions.
