The Ministry of Agriculture today announced a set of measures to help out farmers affected by the drought. But Alexandr Slusari, ex-lawmaker and former president of the Farmers Force Association, says the Ministry is misleading the public about the scope of the measures.

“These measures are only applicable to the drought-affected farmers who have a relation with the Agency for Development and Modernization of Agriculture. That is, only to the farmers who bought equipment from the Agency on installment plans”, said Slusari.

He accused the Ministry of formulating its announcement in such a way as to make the public believe that it waived overdue payments for all farmers.

“If we compare with Romania, there is an emergency resolution there, under which, beginning on September 1, all payments on bank loans are suspended until December 2025, access to state-guaranteed loans is simplified, and compensations are offered of 200-250 euros per hectare for farmers affected by the drought”, said the former lawmaker, suggesting that the Moldovan government is not doing enough.

Earlier today, the Ministry announced that the Agency would waive penalties for farmers that missed their payments in 2024 and suspend payments for 6 months, among other measures.