Before his first visit to Brussels as President, Igor Dodon published on his blog a rather pessimistic article about the Association Agreement with the EU. All the arguments enumerated in this article put the Association Agreement in a negative light. Then the President said there is a tendency showing that imports from the European countries will grow. The authors of a new Sic! article, which is accompanied by an animation clip, examined the situation to see if Moldova is indeed flooded with agrifood products from Europe, IPN reports.
The article says Moldova’s exports are a rather sensitive issue for the national public opinion. These secure almost one third of the GDP and are a stimulating factor for agriculture (under 15% of the GDP in 2015). Namely for this reason, President Dodon regularly exploits this subject and the related phobias existing in society. Consequently, continuing his electoral speech, President Dodon on his blog wrote the imports of a series of agrifood products from Europe are expected to increase.
“Is such an assertion correct? Statistics show a slightly different reality. Moreover, there are logical explanations for the rise in the imports of particular agrifood products from the EU,” wrote the article authors.
Even if the President refers to a series of agrifood products from the EU, he specifies a very short list of agrifood products. “The list includes a series of vegetables (tomatoes, onion, corn, cabbage, salad, carrots, etc.), one type of fruit (apples) and three products of animal origin (eggs, milk and sour cream), as well as sugar. The President chose to criticize the EU even if imports from the CIS, which includes the Russian Federation, also rose.
Referring to the reasons, the authors mention the ban imposed by Russia against the EU as an indirect consequence of this rise. This way Moscow penalized the Europeans for the economic sanctions imposed on the Russian Federation for the actions taken against Ukraine (Crimea, Donbas). Therefore, the European market became saturated with own agrifood products and this pushed prices down. Thus, these products became more attractive to Moldovan importers.
The authors consider it is important to remember that imports from the EU fell by about 15% in 2016 from 2014, when the Association Agreement with the EU took effect provisionally. This fact refutes the prophecies of Moldovan Euro-skeptics about the larger flow of European goods allegedly caused by the accord. “Owing to the frost and snows of this spring, Moldova could experience a shortage of particular types of fruit and vegetables. That’s why imports from Europe will be necessary or even vital for Moldovan consumers, even if these later could become again the target of the Moldovan Euro-skeptics,” says the article.
The full article in the Romanian can be read on sic.md. Sic! is a project implemented by IPN News Agency with support from Soros Foundation Moldova.
