Farmers from a number of districts of Moldova on December 2 mounted a protest in the central square of Chisinau, expressing their dissatisfaction with the authorities’ attitude, which they describe as irresponsible in relation to the problems they face. According to them, the Government, instead of providing reasonable compensations to diminish the effects of the drought, for 2021 approved a budgetary-fiscal policy that burdens them further. The protesting farmers request the MPs to immediately organize a meeting with them. In a statement adopted during the protest, the farmers ask Parliament to oblige the executive to provide compensations to the farmers affected by drought, IPN reports.
“It should identify financial resources for substantially increasing the Subsidization Fund and start to allocate direct subsidies in agriculture and should also identify funds for refunding the excise duties on the bought diesel fuel that is used in agriculture; hold to allow the fiscal pressure on agricultural producers and private individuals operating in agriculture to be increased by raising the VAT rates on agricultural products and the tax on payments made in favor of private individuals,” says the statement.
Vasile Myrzenko, executive director of the National Farmers Federation of Moldova, said that agriculture is considered a strategic sector of the national economy given its weight in the GDP. Also, it offers an important number of jobs to the rural population, supplies the processing industry with raw material and ensures the country’s food security. Despite this, the authorities adopted a superficial approach to the problems faced by farmers.
Ion Plămădeală, of the association of producers of Leova district, said that during the past three months, the farmers had a number of discussions with state functionaries of a number of institutions. In August, when the farmers protested with agricultural machinery in Chisinau, in the meeting with the Premier and minister, they thought the problems existing in the sector were understood and allocations for partially compensating the farmers who cultivated first group grain corps for the sustained losses followed. Also then, the authorities promised to identify sufficient funds for providing compensations also for the second group grain crops. In the discussions with the minister of agriculture later they were told that there are no available funds.
Farmer from Ungheni Iurie Vrabie said that this year was difficult. The farmers whose financial situation is precarious will have the VAT rate on primary agriculture in 2021 raised from 8% to 12%. The draft budgetary-fiscal policy was already approved by the Cabinet and was submitted to Parliament for adoption.
Mihail Bobicov, a farmer from Căușeni, said that following discussions with the authorities, a number of promises about the compensation of the losses for the second group grain crops were made, but nothing was done. The agricultural producers do not have financial resources to plough and sow the land now and in spring.
