The Board of the Association “Force of Farmers” demands that the government should request the European Union to allow access to European funds for the agrarian sector as from 2023 and should seek help from Romania in the form of diesel fuel, which would be primarily distributed to small farmers, following the example of the President. The Board also demands to increase the National Agriculture Development Fund to at least 3 billion lei.
The demands were presented in a news conference hosted by IPN. The farmers will wait for a response until February 15. If they are not heard, they will mount a massive protest across the country and in the capital city.
“We are those who want our country to be developed from economic viewpoint, to be nice and with people who smile and are proud to live in this state,” said Ion Plămădeală, chairman of the Board of the Association “Force of Farmers”.
According to him, the senior administration should call on the foreign partners to help as all the people in Moldova are in a very serious situation due to the war in Ukraine. This war disrupted the grain supply chains and pushed the prices up. “In the Republic of Moldova, we now have a lot of products from Ukraine. We see that we need to ensure corridors for the export of grain from Ukraine, but grain should not be stored in the Republic of Moldova,” stated the representative of farmers.
Sergiu Stefanco, agricultural producer from Căușeni district, said the small and medium-sized producers in Moldova are left face to face with the experienced problems, with foreign competition. “If this government didn’t learn the lesson from the previous government, we can only repeat the actions of 2020 and be more radical,” stated the producer.
The “Force of Farmers” said the severe drought compromised 80-90% of the corn harvest and 40-50% of the sunflower and sugar beet harvest. The political ban on the import of Moldovan vegetal products imposed by Russia harshly affected the most intensive branches of agriculture, such as fruit-growing and winegrowing. The excess of Ukrainian agricultural products, the export-related problems and the often blockages at customs posts caused difficulties to the local famers. Many of them have to sell their products below the cost price at a time when the prices of agricultural products by categories increased by 200-400%, while the interest rates on loans grew about three times.
Note: IPN News Agency gives the right of reply to persons who consider they were touched by the news items produced based on statements of the organizers of the given news conference, including by facilitating the organization of another news conference in similar conditions.
