The problems related to the sale of apple production caused a decline in profits and also in the number of jobs at some of the business entities. The growers cannot sell their production at the projected price as the apple export intermediaries do not accept all the sorts and this year offer a much lower wholesale price. “Last year, the price offered by intermediaries was of 7-8 lei/kg on average, but this year the piece is of 2.5-3 lei/kg and of 5-7 lei for exclusive varieties,” the mayor of Colicăuți village of Briceni district Lilian Țapu stated for IPN.
Asked what the business entities do with the harvest, Lilian Țapu said the business entities that afford store the harvest in cold-storage facilities, but there are growers whose apples are yet in orchards.
The Russian Federation increased the import duties from US$1,000 to about US$ 3,000 for a truck carrying apples and this is one of the causes for the difficulties faced by apple producers in northern Moldova. The Russian authorities argue the tax was raised because local production grew. To protect the economic interests of the Russian business entities, the Russian authorities increased import duties on apple production. Moreover, business circles in Russia ask to introduce a quota on the import of apples from the Republic of Moldova, by the example of the European Union. “There are also requests to fully ban the import of apples into Russia,” said Lilian Țapu.
According to the mayor of Colicăuți, the problems of apple growers can be solved by increasing the quality of apples (from apples of the first quality to those of superior quality) and raising the level of subsidizes for production (in EU, subsidies per hectare are of about €200, but they differ depending on the type of crop).
Vlad Gamureac, the head of an apple growing enterprise based in Colicăuți, has told IPN that his firm only started to gather apples as they grow late varieties. If the selling price decreases by even 1 leu, the enterprise’s losses will rise to about 2 million lei. “We keep the apples in cold-storage facilities and intend to sell them before or after the New Year. If we sell them for 6-6.50 lei/kg, the profit will be of 1 leu per kg,” stated Vlad Gamureac.
Apple producer from Colicăuți Anatolie Jumiga told IPN that the fruit-growing sector in Moldova has fallen into decline. He is now cutting down the trees from 11 ha of orchard. For this year, he has a debt of 1 million lei for loans he raised to purchase pesticides, plus a debt of 300,000 lei dating from last year. The workers employed to gather apples are paid 300 lei a day, up from 250 lei last year. The maintenance of agricultural machinery is also more expensive. The price of technical oil rose form 18 lei to 30 lei a liter. The price of diesel fuel grew considerably, as did the prices of spare parts and tires.
The agricultural producers consider the state should adopt a complex approach to the problems faced by apple growers.
