The executive director of the Farmers’ Federation said the entity that he leads gave up staging the protests planned earlier together with representatives of the Association “Force of Farmers”. According to Vasile Mîrzenco, the farmers in the Republic of Moldova should take into account the difficult economic situation in which the country is now. The farmer said the support measures announced by Minister of Agriculture Vladimir Bolea are welcome and these made many of the farmers abandon protests, IPN reports.
Vasile Mîrzenco said the Farmers’ Federation wanted initially to take part in protests, but the support measures announced by Minister Bolea can help remedy the situation in agriculture.
“We decided initially to take part in the protests but the minister of agriculture in several hours of our meeting gave a briefing and announced measures designed to support us. The November 25 time limit for paying taxes was extended. In Parliament, they consider reintroducing the law that allows paying taxes, tariffs, social fund contributions from the sums accumulated into the account from VAT. For the farmers who have such a balance, but many have it as we purchased fertilizers for rather large sums, this measure represents appropriate support,” Vasile Mîrzenco stated in the program “Reflection Points” on Vocea Basarabiei.
On Monday, representatives of the Association “Force of Farmers” mounted a protest by taking agricultural machines to 15 locations in the country. The farmers led by Alexandru Slusari threaten that if their regional protests are ignored, the next stage of the protest will consist of the bringing of agricultural machinery to central Chisinau. For his part, the director of the Farmers’ Federation said the government is not directly responsible for the crisis experienced in the agricultural sector.
“We all have the right to protest and to manifest ourselves as we consider it is right for the fate of farmers but, as an organization, we need to take into account the general economic and financial situation in the country. The increase in the prices of fuels, fertilizers is not the result of the activity of the current government. It is an impact of the regional crisis. We purchase gas at the prices requested by the supplier. Therefore, it is inhuman to come and hit when someone is already affected. Someone wants to meet with the minister, the Prime Minister daily but this is not normal,” stated the farmer.
According to the farmers, this year’s severe droughts compromised 80-90% of the corn harvest and 60-70% of the sunflower and sugar beet harvests and the small and medium-sized farmers will be unable to cope without state support.
