Approximately 90% of the milk that is the raw material used to make dairy products in the Republic of Moldova is bought from private individuals, while the authorized farms provide a reduced quantity of milk, said the head of the National Association of Milk Producers “Lapte” Carolina Linte. According to her, before the war Ukraine supplied Moldova with the largest quantity of dairy products, but now the products from Ukraine are replaced with those from Romania, IPN reports.
The Association’s leader noted that the milk processing sector can disappear in Moldova as the state does not invest in the development of farms and does not support the famers who run a business in this sector. The largest quantity of the milk used in processing is purchased from citizens, but the number of households that keep cows has decreased.
“In the Republic of Moldova, we have over 20 farms that are called dairy cattle farms and these were authorized by the Ministry of Agriculture. We cannot satisfy our necessities with the raw material bought only from authorized farms. We buy from private individuals. But the private individuals grow older and this sector is almost inexistent as we purchase about 90% of the milk from the population. We produce milk, kefir, sour cream and fresh cheese from milk sold by the population. The other products, such as pressed cheeses and butter, are imported from Ukraine, Belarus and the EU (Romania, Poland, Hungary). After the outbreak of the war, imports from Ukraine decreased, while imports from Romania increased. We are definitely dependent on imports,” Carolina Linte stated in the program “Reflection Point” de la Vocea Basarabiei.
The head of the Association “Lapte” noted that they asked the authorities to subsidize the costs for farmers depending on the quantity of produced milk, but the producers remained without any support from the state.
“We proposed providing subsidies for each kilogram of milk given that we had consecutive droughts. Nothing has been done yet. Anyway, subsides would be offered only to the authorized farms, but the quantity of milk from farms is not so large. We are required to have competitive products as we are placed on shelves next to imported products, but they only speak about this sector and all in vain,” said Carolina Linte.
According to a study carried out by the Investment Agency, milk production in Moldova the last ten years declined by 38%. The animal-breeding sector sees the same negative trends. The number of cows decreased from 154,000 in 2011 to 81,000 in 2020.
