Agency for Payments and Intervention in Agriculture created

The Agency for Payments and Intervention in Agriculture will start work soon, Info-Prim Neo reports, quoting a decision approved by the Government. The Agency will manage all the financial resources earmarked for subsidizing the agricultural producers, will monitor how the money is distributed and assess the impact of the state measures aimed at supporting the farmers. Minister of Agriculture and Food Industry Valeriu Cosarciuc said that during the last few years the agricultural subsidies were managed by several institutions – the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry, the Ministry of Finance, IS Moldresurse, and Moldova's Water Agency – but there were no common criteria for distributing them and the effect of subsidization wasn't studied. These and other irregularities in distributing the subsidies, especially the lack of transparency in compiling the lists of recipients of subsidies and of commissions that make the lists, aroused the dissatisfaction of the producers and the civil society. They expressed their discontents during public debates. The Agency for Payments and Intervention in Agriculture will be subordinated to the Ministry of Agriculture, but will have the status of legal entity. It will have 66 employees, 36 of whom will work at the Agency's nine local offices in order to be closer to the producers. Valeriu Cosarciuc said the beneficiaries of subsidies will be selected according to the projects submitted by them. The Agency will sign contracts with the beneficiaries and will monitor the impact of the subsidies and if they are used according to the terms of the contract. A sum of 300 million lei was budgeted this year for subsidizing the agricultural producers. The creation of the Agency for Payments and Intervention in Agriculture forms part of the central public administration reform. The Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry will no more be a public authority responsible for the implementation of the measures aimed at developing the agricultural sector. It will focus exclusively on the formulation of the agricultural policy, including the subsidization policy.