The Free Trade Agreement with the EU will start to be applied on August 1, when the Moldovan fruit will be exported freely to the European market, the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party Vlad Filat said in a program on the radio station “Vocea Basarabiei”. The politician spoke about the actions that must be taken following the ban on the fresh and canned fruit and vegetables from Moldova imposed by Russia, IPN reports.
“I think that from August 1 we will be able to export mainly apples, plums and table grapes. The dates of September 1 and October 1 were earlier announced, but we are in an exceptional situation and need exceptional decisions. We need only the formalized decision of the EU and this decision will exist,” stated Vlad Filat. He noted that the exported quantities must be increased. “We can export 40,000 tonnes of apples to the EU. We expect that this quantity will be doubled when the European Parliament returns to work. We can also export 10,000 tonnes of plums and grapes and aim to obtain the doubling of this quota.”
The Liberal-Democratic leader also said that the authorities aim to subsidize the costs for transporting and storing fruit, which have a short storage period. These subsidies will be provided from the financial support offered by the European Commission. “I think we will obtain permission to allocate over €13 million from the assistance provided as budget support. We also communicate intensely with other development partners and with the World Bank. A part of the money may be allocated by the European Investment Bank for creating an investment fund,” stated the politician.
He also said that Russia’s actions in relation to Moldova must be condemned. “Aiming to penalize the politicians or parties, at the suggestion or the request of the Communists, Socialists or other satellites of theirs, they penalized the people, which is condemnable. This shows that the path chosen by us – the European integration – is a correct one. This is the only way of building a free country from all the viewpoints,” stated Vlad Filat.
He informed that a delegation of the group of the European People’s Party in the European Parliament will come to Chisinau on July 24. It will be headed by the chairman of the EPP’s parliamentary group Manfred Weber.
Vlad Filat stated that nobody denounced the Free Trade Agreement with Russia and both Moldova and Russia are members of the World Trade Organization. In the near future, the Moldovan authorities will make an analysis and will determine the damage caused by the barriers imposed by Russia. If it is established that the international agreements are violated, Moldova may seek damages. No pressure and no ban can prevent the country from following the chosen development path.
