Gagauzia authorities say central authorities hinder export of grapes to Ukraine

The authorities of Gagauzia say that the central authorities hinder the export of grapes to Ukraine. Gagauzia Governor Mihail Formuzal called Wednesday an urgent meeting on the situation concerning the export of grapes. A press release of the authorities of Gagauzia says that a large consignment of grapes has been staying two days now at the customs. It belongs to the Comrat-based “Temizlic” Company. According to the head of regional Department for Agro-industrial sector, Ilia Topciu, the prolonged stationing of the grapes at the customs could spoil the product, which could cause serious financial loss to this company. Meanwhile, the customs officers justify the situation by the lack of an order on the permission to export the grapes. According to Topciu, at present there are also problems regarding the subsidies promised by the Government for each ploughed and sowed hectare of land. The mechanism informing the farmers about the conditions on receiving the subsidies was changed three times this week, which makes difficult the payment process, the cited source added. The authorities of Gagauzia say that all these situations create premises for artificial diminishing of the price of grapes and ignite tension among the society. Mihail Formuzal said that he will discuss with PM Vasile Tarlev and will ask for the immediate settlement of these problems. He expressed his hope that the leadership of the country is interested in maintaining the stability and peace in Gagauzia, so that all the conflicts with the administration of the region are efficiently solved.