[ - Mister Cosarciuc, what major guarantee does the present government, the Minister of Agriculture and Food Industry give to the people?] - The guarantee of a correct relation between the state and the owner is very important. The owners must know that the state will not sequestrate their property. What does this mean, in fact? This means that the export of bottled and nonbottled wine will not be banned. This means a guarantee that if a persons starts a business, this business will not be influenced from outside, by decisions made by the state institutions. The same can be said about such areas as meat production, milk production, cereal cultivation. The people must be sure that the state will not monopolize certain areas and will not favor certain economic entities. I think agriculture and food industry can become 'engines' of the national economy. The procedures must be simplified, the export facilitated, the terms for validating the sets of documents reduced. [ - They say agriculture can feed a number of people, not yet a whole country] - Yes, but this happened because a number economic entities had been favored. The mafiotic administration of Moldova marginalized for example the meat produces and promoted the meat imports through its people. During a recent meeting at the Ministry, the director of a sausage company said he purchased meat on the internal market for the first time during the last few years. [ - Is this change the result of the new government’s intervention?] - It is the result of our work as until present the companies were obliged to buy meat only from the importers favored by the Communist government, and there were more than one such importers. The export of wheat was blocked also with the aim of controlling this sector and the financial resources. I believe we must create a favorable business environment and convince the entrepreneurs that nobody will hinder them in their activities. [ - In fact, the first question of this interview should have been: how is it to become Minister of Agriculture in a year hit by crisis?] - I must say that I like dealing with difficulties. I was responsible for a number of sectors, but I had also managed a company about which the people said that it does not have a future at that moment. I succeeded in reviving the given company. I found out that they pay the salaries there, did not cut the jobs now in this period of crisis… When I became Minister of Agriculture and Food Industry I knew what the situation in this sector is like. But we have an objective that is outlined in the government program as well: to ensure Moldova’s food security by stimulating the national producers, reducing imports and promoting exports. This is a very important objective and I think we will achieve it. It is also very important that we increase the quality of the human resources in agriculture. [ - Not much is known about such objectives at the Ministry of Agriculture] - Moldova does not have the necessary financial resources, but they can be found. Our major problem is the human resources. As regards the workforce in agriculture, we must impose demands on the Agrarian University and the eight colleges. We already had several meetings centering on this issue and proposed formulating a bill that would be financed from the budget and would be named for example “Strengthening of Education Institutions' Capacities”. The agricultural research institutions are another aspect of the problem. We must realize that the seeds, breeds of animals and seedlings must be produced inside the country. These institutions should understand that we want to have not only new sorts and seeds, but also technology that will be used to obtain finished products. [ - What will be the subsidization mechanisms and priorities next year?] - The amendments proposed to the budget this year provide for the increase in the subsidization fund by about 250 million lei to fulfill all the obligations, including to refund the VAT on the products supplied on the home market, on purchased fertilizers and chemicals. The fund for this year included 313 million lei and will be augmented by 250 million lei more. [ - Some say it would be 750 million lei this year] - The agriculture subsidization fund has never been so large. The next year's budget will be the same. This money will be used in several key areas, including the subsidization of the high value added vegetal products. Orchards will continue to be planted on condition that they are irrigated by dripping. There will be stimulated the development of agriculture on protected fields, the growing of ecologically pure products and the purchase of agricultural machinery. We will demand that the planted fields be irrigated. A non-irrigated hectare of land planted with table grapes can yield 8-9 tonnes, but an irrigated one – up to 25 tonnes. Thus, instead of 10 non-irrigated hectares of table grapes there should be three irrigated hectares and the harvest will be the same. We will continue to support the development of the animal-breeding sector. Not long ago, I visited a farm that was outfitted with computed equipment. A lot of money was invested, but the quantity of milk obtained is much larger. We will not yet give money for projects doomed to failure. From next year, we will provide assistance in founding small and medium-sized companies for precessing primary agricultural products, such as meat, vegetables and fruit. We want such companies to appear in rural areas. This objective of the government coalition is aimed at developing the business capacities in villages and at creating workplaces in rural areas. We want to develop the post-harvesting infrastructure. Those who grow vegetables and fruit cannot sell their products in autumn and become dependent on intermediaries. We want that the farmers become co-owners of storage and packing companies and to favor the creation of marketing cooperatives. This way, the farmers will gain access to the home and foreign markets. [ - How will those who will materialize these ideas be selected?] - We had a meeting with representatives of most of the organizations operating in the area, including the civil society, and decided that delegates will travel to districts and promote these key areas. They will explain what a project-model is and identify people who want to make such investments. The state could contribute 20% of the money needed to implement such projects. 20-30% could represent loans or grants. The own contribution of the beneficiaries will be about 50%. A contest will be held to select the most realistic projects. We ascertained that only 10% of the subsidization fund were used to support the small producers. 90% of the subsidies were given to large producers that are not so many in number. One and the same persons appear everywhere - peorsons who enjoyed the authorities' support and had access to funds. For example, the 140 million lei allocated for creating tractor and car stations were given according to non-transparent criteria. It is time to return 36 million lei, but there are no signs that somebody will see this money. We intend to make significant changes in the consultancy process. We will abandon the collective seminars and lessons and will resort to applicative consultancy. This means that those that will implement a project will receive informational support from consultants at all the stages. [ - Since you took office, you paid a visit to Rome and a visit to Moscow. What were the goals of these visits and what results have you achieved?] - In Rome, I participated in a world summit on food security organized by the Food and Agriculture Organizations. The participants expressed concerns about the world food security as more than one billion people face starvation. I spoke about the democratic changes taking place in our county and stressed that Moldova needs support at many levels. Normally, in order to ensure a sustainable development, agriculture should be allotted 10% of all the funds, but in Moldova this figure is about 1%. I informed that Moldova needs markets where to sell the agricultural products. I asked that we be included in world food program so that we could contribute products in cases of emergency in the countries affected by famine. [ - Has someone taken such steps before you?] - I haven't heard about this. I returned from Moscow several days ago. The visit was in fact a continuation of the dialogue initiated by Prime Minister Vlad Filat and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. We wanted to obtain advantageous conditions for selling our wines on the Russian market so that our wine companies could sell their products, create workplaces and have money to pay the debts to the suppliers of raw material. We agreed to open six more customs terminals besides the existing one. The number of companies that will be authorized to export wine to Russia will rise from 36 to 91. In December, 45 more companies will be inspected to see if they meet the basic conditions. The 36 exporters will be taken out of the discriminatory monitoring regime and will be treated in the same way as the wine makers from Spain, Italy, Portugal and other countries. [ - Why weren’t such measures taken earlier?] - There was no wish. I’m sure that the blockage of the export of Moldovan wine products to Russia was planned in Chisinau so as to control the stocks and financial flows. In general, those who were favored by the Communist power made most of the money in Moldova until recently. They monopolize the imports and made colossal profit, while the state sustained similar losses. The price of meat declared at the customs was 8-10 lei and the customs duties, the Value Added tax were paid from this price, not from the real value of the imports. Those who produced meat inside the country paid all the taxes that were much higher. [- Garlands for the winter holidays are being placed in the center of Chisinau. A new year is coming. Can we speak about the payments that the farmers will make next year - the VAT, the Social Fund, etc.?] - We are still at the stage of discussions. We cannot yet say what the VAT rate on the agricultural products sold on the home market will be. We must find a balance so as to harm no one. As to the Social Fund, the figures will remain the same. [ - You said earlier that the previous government had its favorites and that not all the peasants could enter the Ministry. How will it be now?] - I said, we will work together. Everyone will be equal. We will stimulate efficiency, will be transparent and will prove that Moldova’s agricultural sector has a future.