Farmers to resume protests in Chisinau in fall
Farmers in Moldova will resume their protests in Chisinau in the fall, accusing the authorities of negligence in addressing the problems in agriculture.
In a statement, the Farmers' Force Association said that the authorities are deliberately ignoring the problems in agriculture, and that some of the association's proposals, which do not involve spending, have been ignored or implemented with great delay.
The association said that it had tried to meet with Prime Minister Dorin Recean this week, but without success. As a result, the association's council decided to hold a congress after the harvest of the second group of crops, at which a decision will be made on when to resume protests.
"We see that the crisis in the agricultural sector is largely due to the inaction or very late actions of the government since the fall of 2022," said Alexandr Slusari, executive director of the Farmers' Force Association. "We will resume protests, but already in Chisinau, as it was in June. Tentatively, everything depends on the completion of harvesting. It could be the end of October or early November, we will take into account the farmers' requests."
The prime minister's press secretary, Daniel Voda, said that the government would not comment on the association's statements.
In June, farmers held several protests. On June 19, farmers arrived with tractors in the Great National Assembly Square, where they protested non-stop until June 27, when they announced a break until August 1, after discussions with Prime Minister Dorin Recean and Agriculture Minister Vladimir Bolea, who promised support for farmers affected by the crisis.
On August 14, farmers held a warning protest at the government, unhappy that the authorities had not met the demands they had made at the June protest. They demanded at least 350 million lei in subsidies. The government recently allocated 200 million lei in compensation for farmers who prepared the soil and planted crops from the first group.
Another demand of the farmers was the distribution of the 4,000 tons of diesel fuel donated by Romania. Only today, the Ministry of Agriculture launched a call for the submission of requests to determine the amount of diesel fuel to be provided to farmers. The deadline is September 29.
Farmers have also demanded that the Commission for Emergency Situations approve a moratorium on the payment of penalties and interest to creditors.
