Ministry of Agriculture set up measures to support sector in context of crisis

Chisinau, 5 Sep. /MOLDPRES/- The Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry has worked out measures to support agriculture to more easily overcome the crisis situation in which they are. The support plan was presented today by Minister Vladimir Bolea and acting head of the Agency for Intervention and Payments in Agriculture (AIPA) Diana Coșalîc.

"To reduce the negative impact of the diesel price increase, it was decided to reimburse 100% of the cost of the diesel excise tax - 2.95 lei for each liter of diesel, up to the amount of 64 tons of fuel used by an economic agent. This means that 100% of small and medium-sized agencies will receive the value of the excise tax," said Vladimir Bolea.

According to the official, another solution will be made together with the Ministry of Finance, but the Fiscal Inspectorates will not apply late payment penalties for agricultural producers. The tax office will determine with each individual economic agent the rescheduling and establishment of a debt payment program to the state.

Coșalîc said that this year, the National Fund for Development in Agriculture and the Rural Environment represents for the first time 1.75 billion lei, and as of September 1, the disbursement of accounts of 1.1 billion lei (over 50 million euros), which is more than 70%, on the accounts of agricultural producers. "Most financial sources, 80%, are aimed directly at producers who develop businesses in agriculture and who received the necessary financial sources, including the arrears for 2021", said Coşalîc.

According to the AIPA head, the financial resources of 852 million lei, which were allocated through this mechanism, managed to attract investments of over three billion lei and the accumulation of over one billion lei in the state budget. "These sources have developed over three thousand economic agents who requested financial support and created over 1 thousand jobs", said Diana Coșalîc. She noted that in 2022, 25 million lei were disbursed through the start-up project support program, which are already on the accounts of agricultural producers developing over 60 projects.