After two months of talks with the producers, the processing companies announced that this year they will purchase the apples for 1 leu per kilogram from economic entities and for 0.8 lei a kilogram from private individuals. The announcement was made at a meeting of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry. The decision was criticized by apple growers, who banked on a selling price of at least 1.6 lei. If the leu decreases in value, the processing companies are ready to buy the apples for 1.2 lei a kilogram, but the difference of 0.2 lei will be paid in installments until this yearend, the president of Processors Association “Conservproduct” Mihai Vladicescu has told Info-Prim Neo. According to the director of the Soroca-based processing company “Alfa-Nistru” Ion Barliba, the processors cannot raise the selling price to the level asked by the producers as the juice concentrate on foreign markets has decreased in price and the currency market is unstable. The price of the juice concentrate is calculated on the basis of the transportation cost, which is equal to 0.25 lei per kilogram of apples on an average distance of 120 kilometers, and of the production cost of 200 euros per tonne of juice concentrate, which is made from about 8 tonnes of summer apples or 6.8-7.2 tonnes of autumn apples, the acquisitions director of “Natur Bravo” company, Igor Boxan said. Asked to comment on the situation, the president of the Association of Fruit Growers Victor Ungureanu said that each producer can negotiate the selling price of the apples privately. “The producers do not agree with the price of 1 leu because they consider that their work is more expensive,” Ungureanu said. In 2007, the summer apples were purchased for 1.2-1.6 lei per kilogram. The highest price for autumn-winter apples was about 2.5 lei per kilogram. The apple juice concentrate sold on foreign markets last year cost approximately 1,300 lei a tonne. According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry, the processing companies last year collected 170,000 tonnes of fruit, 85.4% out of which apples.