A platform for collecting vegetables was built in Dubăsarii Vechi village of Criuleni district that is known mainly for its extensive plantations of tomatoes. The TIR trucks that come to the village to collect vegetables from producers and to export them will stop at a specially laid out place, while the collection process will take place under the surveillance of inspection bodies. The platform was built within the Migration and Local Development Project implemented by UNDP Moldova. In the future, it is planned to also open a sorting and packing house, IPN reports.

According to UNDP Moldova representative Gennady Ivashchenko, the platform is considered a logistics center that will support the process of collecting vegetables, especially tomatoes. It will be like a wholesale export market. The project was also fostered by the creation of a union of tomatoe producers and exporters of Dubăsarii Vechi. About 80% of the families in Dubăsarii Vechi cultivate tomatoes.

By two-three TIR trucks will be stationing on the platform in the tomato growing season. The platform will work nonstop. In time, the mayor’s office intends to transfer the platform to the association of producers that would use it for current activities.

The platform was built at a cost of 700,000 lei. The largest part of the money was allocated by the UNDP, while the mayor’s office of Dubăsarii Vechi, the Criuleni District Council and the Association of Locals of Dubăsarii Vechi contributed the rest of the amount.