“The loss of the ‘billion’ is enormous for our country, but the damage caused by the loss of confidence is greater, and I refer not only to the trust of the people, but also of the development partners, donors and all Moldova’s friends from abroad,” said ex-minister of agriculture and food industry Vasile Bumacov.
Referring to his experience of working with foreign partners, Bumacov said that these help Moldova in the hope that the results t of this assistance contribute to the people’s welfare. They are profoundly disappointed when things develop not as it was agreed.
“I had recently visited Washington at the invitation of the company CNFA, which implemented a number of USAID projects in Moldova’s agriculture. The company celebrated 30 years of activity. It implemented hundreds of projects in different countries. At the anniversary celebrations, I, as the representative of Moldova, was asked to give a speech and to tell how Moldova became a ‘success story’ and about the good results produced by the projects of the CNFA. I worked with the CNFA as a deputy minister and as a minister. I spoke about particular accomplishments of our country. I spoke about the privatization of land, the creation of a chain of agricultural shops and about the impact of some projects on people’s lives. Those attending showed interest and put me questions,” he stated.
The ex-minister regretted the allegations about bribery taking within some of the projects, including 2KR, which is considered by the Japanese partners the best project in foreign agricultural sectors implemented with Japanese investments. “The given case was won in court and the project’s reputation was restored, but the caused damage remained,” stated Bumacov.
According to him, the atmosphere in the country, the attitude to investors of the authorities, institutions and society in general are important for attracting investments. The interminable scandals, groundless rumors and the existing impression that everything is done by order of a party do not stimulate investment.
“A lot depends on the people with whom the potential investors negotiate when they come to a country, the quality and degree of their competence. It happens that these come and do not have who to speak to. It is important to have solid institutions with competent specialists. We experience a shortage of specialists who can state their opinion and can maintain it, if need be,” said the former minister of agriculture.
