Each citizen has the right to protest, but this should be done in accordance with the legal framework, said Parliament Speaker Igor Grosu, referring to the protests mounted by farmers in central Chisinau. According to him, there is place for a dialogue between the protesters and the authorities and both of the sides should show understanding. A working group is being constituted to help the farmers who reached an impasse to avoid insolvency, IPN reports.
The official noted he rejects the idea that there are political players behind farmers’ protests. He realizes the desperate situation of farmers, but these should obey the law and should not allow incidents during the protests and destabilization.
“There is always place for a dialogue. Everyone can protest. It is everyone’s right. It is important that the protests be sincere and not be staged for money, like the protests organized by criminal groups. It is not the case of farmers. These are people with whom we interacted in time. It is their right to protest. My request is to obey the law, the rules. We should not allow reprovable incidents that do no good either to farmers or to the police force as the image of both of the sides is damaged this way. There is space for discussions and these should go on,” Igor Grosu stated in the program “At 360 Degrees” on Radio Moldova station.
The Speaker noted that he daily receives updated reports about the situation in the field from the Ministry of Agriculture. He is sure that the institutions involved in the negotiation process will identify solutions to prevent the bankruptcy of small and medium-sized farmers.
“We are now discussing the creation of a mechanism that would involve all he institutions with duties regarding the solving of problems of companies that enter insolvency. It is a framework that will include protesters, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, representatives of banks so that we fluidize the process and help them. So far, a sum of 813 million lei has been disbursed of the allocated funds and over 90 million lei remained, which will be offered to farmers in the immediate period. The total sum is 1 billion 900 million lei. As to the diesel fuel donation made by Romania, there are 1,000-1,500 applications and these commitments will be honored in the immediate period. I call on them to act calmly and look for solutions,” said Igor Grosu.
Hundreds of farmers from the county’s districts demand that the Government should impose a moratorium, until October 31, 2024, on the calculation of penalties, forced execution of obligations and launch of insolvency procedures for grain and oilseed producers. They also ask that a sum of 1 billion lei from the Subsidization Fund for 2024 should be allotted to farmers.
