Moldovan farmers discontented with decrease in subsidization fund

Chisinau, 4 October /MOLDPRES/ - Farmers’ associations show discontent with the decrease in subsidization worth 200 million lei of behalf of the state. At a today’s news conference, the associations informed that they would organize mass protests, if the authorities failed to remedy the emerged situation.    

The head of the UniAgroProtect, association, Alexandru Slusari, said that some farmers had been waiting for the debts in subsidies for more than one year. “Some of the farmers, who submitted documents to get subsidization, relied on this money, but it is not clear whether they will receive it, in general. How can you develop the business, if you don’t know whether you will receive the subsidies.  This year, we have a more difficult situation. We enter the new year with debts too, which the state does not want to pay off,” Slusari said.     

This year, the subsidization fund amounts to about 900 million lei, of which 500 million was reserved for paying the debts for 2015, and 400 million lei was to be provided to farmers.

As a result of the responsibility taken by the government before parliament on the seven laws concerning the financial and banking sector, as well as the converting in state debt of the emergency loans, provided by the National Bank of Moldova to the three liquidated banks, 200 million lei was cut from the subsidization fund (400 million lei). Thus, the farmers will not be able to receive the entire sum of money demanded, and the number of applications filed for processing will be decreased.  

Contacted by MOLDPRES, Deputy Agriculture and Food Industry Minister Iurie Usurelu said that “the subsidization fund was limited, as after the state budget for 2016 had been rectified, we ascertained that some state institutions cannot spend more financial sources than they are due to have. The debts for 2014 and 2015 were paid off from the subsidization fund for this year, except for the files submitted with infringements of the subsidization fund’s regulation. The ministry will further back the farmers willing to develop and apply innovative methods in agriculture; yet, the losses they will bear should be taken into account be each farmer as being business risks,” Usurelu noted.  

This year, over 4,000 farmers submitted applications on subsidization on behalf of the state. The deadline for filing applications was 27 September 2016. The Agency of Payments and Interventions in Agriculture is to process the data and instruct the allocation of financial resources to agricultural producers.    

(Reporter P. Beregoi, editor A. Raileanu)