The prohibition by law of the sale of farmland to foreign individuals and legal entities can help stop the decline of the sector and can lay the foundations for sustainable development in the future. Ensuring the access of domestic agricultural producers and food industry producers to the country’s commercial networks is also indicated. The proposals were formulated by presidential candidate Alexandr Stoianoglo, who is supported by the Party of Socialists, IPN reports.
In a press briefing, Alexandr Stoianoglo said that the agricultural sector is a strategic sector of the national economy, with an annual share of over 14% of the Gross Domestic Product and more than 45% of the total volume of the country’s exports.
The candidate noted that the agri-food sector of Moldova is going through a serious crisis. The prices of basic food products grew by more than 66% in the last three years. “Moldova, for the most part, has been transformed into a commodity exporting country – we export wheat, barley and corn, but we import meat and milk, which we could produce here, in Moldova,” stated Alexandr Stoianoglo.
In his opinion, the agrifood sector should be provided with qualified workers and this would be possible by re-establishing the State Agrarian University of Moldova (which was absorbed by UTM) and revitalizing the agriculture research and innovation system. Also, a zero income tax rate for income reinvested in the agrifood sector in rural areas should be introduced.
Among the solutions proposed by the candidate is amending the Law on Public Procurement so as to ensure that local food products are given priority in the purchases made for public institutions. Likewise, Alexandr Stoianoglo considers that the agriculture subsidization fund should be in the amount of at least 2.5 billion lei.
