Farmers have submitted several demands to the authorities and announced protests. Government promises to remove impediments in the sector
Several farmers held talks with the government on Tuesday, but were unhappy with the results and announced protests. The Farmers' Force Association has booked the Great National Assembly Square for Wednesday, 7 June, but for now the protest will take place in the country's districts. The farmers are not ruling out blocking certain routes, but a final decision has not yet been taken, the association's chairman Alexandr Slusari told Radio Moldova.
The agricultural sector has been affected by drought, war, high fuel prices and cheaper grain imported from Ukraine, Alexandru Slusari explained the main problems facing the sector. Farmers have made several demands.
"Allocation of compensations to reduce production costs, at least 3,000 lei/per hectare for the first group of crops; introduction of import restrictions on agricultural crops, just as the European Union did for the five Eastern European countries, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Hungary and Bulgaria; order in the port of Giurgiulesti, this port to export Moldovan production in the agricultural season, payment of subsidy debts by July 1; solving the problem with the amendment of the VAT refund law," Alexandru Slusari pointed out.
The central authorities have taken several measures to strengthen the agricultural sector, such as increasing the volume of subsidies granted to farmers and increasing the number of employees in the Agency for Intervention and Payments for Agriculture, Prime Minister Dorin Recean's communication adviser Daniel Voda told our radio station.
"It was a discussion in which several issues were addressed. In the near future, the Government will continue to remove those impediments that exist in the development of the sector. The Government does not comment in any way on tomorrow's protest. It is the right of people to join in, to demonstrate in a peaceful way. The authorities have spoken very clearly about the actions they are taking to strengthen the agricultural sector," said Daniel Voda.
Farmers have staged several protests over the past year, demanding state aid to cope with the crisis and inflation. The government claims to have allocated an additional 533 million lei to help farmers affected by the regional crisis.
