EU to offer further €28 million to help Moldova cope with drought effects

The European Union will offer Moldova an extra €28 million in addition to the €94.2 arrangement to help farmers cope with the effects of this year's drought, Info-Prim Neo reports. Prime Minister Vlad Filat told a news conference on Monday that priority in distributing the aid will be given to cattle breeders in southern Moldova, who will receive a total 12 million lei. Further, farmers will receive 200 lei for each hectare of land sown with autumn or spring varieties of wheat. “The process of reforms, including in agriculture, is complex. We have a large-scale project on irrigation and we must thank the American Government for the offered grant of $103 million. Next spring, a pilot-project will start in Moldova, and over the coming period this will mean considerable investments in agriculture”, stated Vlad Filat. The Prime Minister added that the liberalization of trade with the EU will further help Moldovan farmers by opening a market with more than 500 million consumers to them. Kristalina Georgieva, European Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response, stated at the same news conference: “We know that this year Moldova has been seriously affected by drought, in particular the rural areas in the south of the country. The European Commission is willing to offer 50 million lei in aid to farmers and peasants who were affected by this drought”. “No country can cope with the growing risks by itself and cooperation is the most efficient and cost-effective way to protect our citizens and avoid large-scale damage. As closely cooperating neighbors, the European Union and Moldova have already made the first joint steps in disaster prevention and response,” the Commissioner underlined. In May, the European Commission and the Moldovan Emergency Situations Service signed an Administrative Arrangement on cooperation in civil protection. Over the next two years, it envisages participation in joint training sessions and workshops on civil protection and the sharing of experience on disaster response. As estimated by the Ministry of Agriculture together with FAO and UNDP experts, this year's drought caused damages of 2.5 million in Moldova's agriculture.