Farmers' situation is woeful, minister

The financial situation of the farmers is deplorable, Agriculture Minister Anatolie Gorodenco stated at a Government meeting on Tuesday, Info-Prim Neo reports. Even though the agricultural year has been quite good, low prices diminished the incomes of the farmers. The government also has delayed VAT refund payments and the distribution of subsidies, Gorodenco added. Concerning the wine sector, the minister said wineries need to export more, including bulk wine and ordinary wine to compensate for the deficiency of available cash, and the government is negotiating in this respect with Russia and other countries. The supply of such kinds of wine in stocks is now 17 decaliters. At a first stage, there could be exported 4 to 5 million decaliters. Additionally, given the delays in the payment of subsidies, it was decided to allocate about 5 to 6 million lei weekly, depending on the amount of government revenues, to pay out these subsidies. By the time when the Government meets next week the Ministry promised to finalize the regulation on the distribution of the 10,000 tonnes of diesel fuel donated by Russia. Calculations will be made based on the list of the assistance offered to farmers for the spring sowing campaign and for the maintenance of vineyards and orchards.