“Plums from Moldova for the entire world”. This is the slogan with which the company Leone.Va SRL presented products, primarily dried grapes, plums and apricots, at the exhibition Moldagrotech-2023 that was opened on Thursday at Moldexpo. The exporter, who is a citizen of Italy, spoke about the opportunities of cooperating with Moldovan producers, but referred also to a number of obstacles met in the Republic of Moldova, especially bureaucracy, IPN reports.
In a news conference, Italian businessman Piero Leone said that Leone.Va SRL is a Moldovan company that has its heart in Italy. It was founded in 2018 and deals with the export of products, mostly dried plums, to Europe and outside it. The fruit are purchased in the Republic of Moldova. Even if he was attracted by Moldovan ecological products, the businessman experienced problems related to logistics and organization of export, creation of the international export line owing to bureaucracy and the way in which trade is organized as this is not fully in accordance with the international standards.
According to the Italian businessman, Leone.Va SRL cooperates with a famous company with assets of billions of euros, which makes the Moldovan products famous all over the world. They started to deliver small quantities, but their exports now come to over 2 million euros. In 2023-2024, sales are projected to total over 2,500 tonnes of dried fruit.
They also plan to build a plum processing factory as there are many plum orchards and plum growers in Moldova. They forecast to produce 4,500 tonnes of dried plums and about 2,000 tonnes of dried apricots. Among the plans is the production of dried tomatoes for international trade and also jams from Moldovan fruit.
The businessman called on the Moldovan authorities to take measures to optimize the procedures for cooperating with international exporters. The businessman also complained about the shortage of workers in Moldova as many persons went to work abroad. He said that better, more attractive conditions should be created at home for the people to return to Moldova. This is one of the priorities set by the company.
Piero Leone noted he is hopeful they will have constructive cooperation with the authorities and with farmers, who are like oxygen in fruit export. They came to Moldova to cooperate fruitfully, to create jobs and to produce for the country and this land.
The businessman presented a number of products, including plums and plums with walnut, noting that the fruit grown in Moldova is exported to Italy where it is processed and is later sold on the European and international markets.
Angela Bulicanu has a plum orchard in Nisporeni district. “We want to cooperate with foreign partners so as to sell the products outside the country. The state doesn’t offer us many advantages to export and we therefore want to cooperate so as to be able to sell our plums on the market in Europe,” Angela Bulicanu stated in the news conference.
The autumn international specialized exhibitions Moldagrotech and Farmer are staged at Moldexpo during October 19-22. According to the authorities, these exhibitions are unique platforms that enable to present agricultural machines and modern equipment, to train farmers in the field and to sell this year’s harvest. Over 200 companies from Moldova, Austria, Italy, Romania, and Ukraine will take part in the exhibitions this year.
