The situation in the agricultural sector is critical and continues to worsen. The farmers cope with difficulty and are put in front of a choice: to remain in the country or to emigrate so as to solve their problems, said ex-deputy premier Octavian Calmîc, chairman of the Public Association LEX-ECON Consulting. According to him, the efforts made by the authorities are considered insufficient. Experts in economy and agriculture proposed a series of solutions to develop and maintain the agricultural sector afloat.
In a news conference hosted by IPN, Octavian Calmîc said that a number of experts, including the team he leads, formulated solutions to remedy the situation in agriculture. The sector needs to be developed so that it becomes a stable sector of the national economy.
He noted that one of the solutions is to increase the subsidization fund. The recent Parliament decision to increase the subsidization fund by 200 or 300 million lei cannot ensure the financing or liquidity needs in this sector are satisfied. It was estimated that over € 1.5 billion was cumulatively attracted to the Republic of Moldova in foreign loans that were generously absorbed by the authorities the past two years.
“We repeatedly said that the program we worked out this year to support agriculture is backed by a number of funds, including private foreign funds that can invest and support the farmers in the Republic of Moldova without political or economic commitments on the part of these. This way, based on this program to support farmers which we designed at the request of the local public authorities, especially of ATU Gagauzia, but not only of this region, farmers from Taraclia and from Orhei were coopted. Surely, other farmers from the Republic of Moldova are also eligible and they can benefit from foreign support to overcome this critical period in agriculture,” stated Octavian Calmîc, noting that the farmers were contacted and signed a series of financing agreements, but all the related transfers were blocked.
If the necessary measures are not taken, the number of farmers could decline as these no longer can cope with the financial and fiscal pressure to which they are subjected. Many of them will have to close their businesses and to migrate to other sectors or to migrate from rural areas to urban areas, stated Octavian Calmîc, who heads the Public Association LEX-ECON Consulting.
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