The Party of Socialists (PSRM) proposes a set of solutions to the problems faced by the agricultural producers. In a news conference, the leader of the PSRM Igor Dodon said the situation in agriculture is very difficult and will yet worsen over the next few months following the bans imposed by Russia on the import of agricultural products from Moldova, IPN reports.

“The losses today are of thousands of tonnes, but in two-three months hundreds of thousands of tonnes of fruit and vegetables will decay. Our farmers are not ready to export products to Europe as the government didn’t pave the way and didn’t offer the necessary assistance,” stated Igor Dodon.

The first solution suggested by the Socialists is to immediately convene an extraordinary sitting of Parliament to examine the critical state of affairs in agriculture. The second solution is to approve a mechanism for compensating the farmers for the sustained losses by allocating state subsidies of 2-4 lei per kilogram of fruit, while the fruit should be processed by factories.

Another solution is to allocate subsidies and financial resources from funds saved by reducing the costs for maintaining Parliament, the President’s staff and the Government and from the profit made by the National Bank.

A last solution is to denounce the Association Agreement with the EU so as to prevent the situation from worsening on a long term as this will have unpredictable consequences for the economic and social stability in the country.

“Agriculture can be saved if it is put above the comfort of politicians and the disadvantageous agreement signed with the EU. One year ago, the Socialists warned the government that the singing of the Association Agreement with the EU will have negative consequences at economic and social levels. We anticipated that the exports will be stops and that problems will be encountered in selling the products. The Government promoted yet its rigid policy and took no measures to prevent the crisis in agriculture,” said Igor Dodon.

On July 21, Russia banned the import of fresh and caned fruit from Moldova. Afterward, the Russian Government made a decision by which it introduced customs duties on the rest of the Moldovan products that can be imported into Russia. Last September, Russia imposed a ban on the import of Moldovan wine, except for the wine made in Transnistria and Gagauzia.