Farmers unhappy about distribution of subventions

Moldovan farmers maintain that the subventions from the state are distributed in a chaotic manner, depending on political affiliation. They demand to raise the subvention fund to 1 billion lei in 2009 and to cancel the value added tax. Such statements were made at a news conference of Our Moldova Alliance (AMN), Info-Prim Neo reports. Valeriu Cosarciuc, the head of the AMN's electoral staff, has said 75% from the unofficial million of citizens working abroad are peasants. According to him, the government finds it convenient that the citizens leave en masse. “Fewer people, fewer problems – this is how the Communist government thinks,” Cosarciuc has said. Gheorghe Malcoci, a farmer from Ialoveni district, running for a seat in parliament on behalf of the AMN, says the subventions for farmer are set at 300 million lei in the 2009 state budget, but should be raised to 1 billion. “Equipment is given depending on your political affiliation. The situation in agriculture has never been so bad as this year. Little harvest and small prices,” Malcoci said. The farmers also complain about the shortage of sales markets. Alexei Ivanov from Orhei district has said he cannot sell his produce either in Chisinau markets or in other localities. “A producer does not have even a 50-per-cent profit, and we pay high taxes to back the state,” he said. Ion Barsa, a vine grower, has said most of the vine planters abandoned their businesses, after losing the Russian market. At the same time the farmers say the EU market would be more convenient, because of the higher prices, but the export mechanisms do not function. Another vice evinced by the farmers is that the state subventions only the big planters, and the owners of small plantations are discriminated.