Moldovan agriculture minister promises to pay arrears of subsidies for 2014

Chisinau, 19 August /MOLDPRES/- Agriculture and Food Minister Ion Sula, after a today cabinet meeting,  said that the arrears to the subsidies for 2014 would be paid by late August. He made the promise, after on 18 August the leaders of four representative associations bringing together agricultural producers and farmers demanded  "payment of all arrears to subsidies for the last year till 1 September."

"The Finance Ministry paid yesterday and today 90 million lei, after 60 million lei had been earlier transferred. After talks held with colleagues from the Finance Ministry, I was assured that, by late August, the subsidies will be fully paid", the agriculture minister said.

The official added that the farmers had started to submit files for investments made in 2015. A number of 1,400 applications on subsidisation have been already submitted, amounting to 225 million lei in all.

The minister also promised that solutions would be identified to provide compensations to farmers with orchards exceeding 15 hectares, who suffered in the wake of the Russian embargo. "We have to take a decision at the level of the Agriculture Ministry and Finance Ministry. We try to find sources to offer compensations to farmers having orchards with an area of more than 15 hectares", he said. All farmers with smaller areas of apple and plum orchards will benefit from assistance by World Bank.

(Reporter V. Bercu, editor L. Alcaza)