Farmers admit they may resume protests. Maia Sandu: "There are not miraculous and easy solutions for a long-standing problem"
After two hours of talks with the president Maia Sandu, the farmers warn that they will resume the protests on October 10, if no concrete solutions to their demands are identified. The Association of Forța Fermierilor continues to insist on the revision of the law recently adopted by the Parliament, which gives farmers the opportunity to negotiate debt restructuring with creditors in the next 6 months. Farmers say that the law is not functional and the 6-month term is too short. However, they hope that compromise solutions will be identified at the subsequent meetings, which will take place with all parties involved.
The most affected by this year's bad weather are the farmers in the south of the country. One of them, Gheorghe Jurcanu from Cahul, says that he has recorded losses of millions of lei in recent years. The farmer also hopes that the law on support measures granted to farmers after this year's drought will be revised and that he will be able to renegotiate some payment terms with creditors.
"We haven't received anything, let's say we're ready, that tomorrow we'll go to the field. Honestly, I'm from the Cahul district, but I don't know what to say to the farmers, because they're going to ask. In the end and what did I solve? Nothing. Today, if we do not receive anything from the banks and from the imputation sellers, I have to think about selling those 100 tons of wheat and give about 100 thousand, so I can cope, I can be active in the coming years", said the farmer.
The farmers claim that they have not received concrete answers from the head of state to the requests they presented to her today. However, they hope that compromise solutions will be identified at the subsequent meetings, which will take place with all parties involved, said the executive director of the Farmers' Association, Alexandru Bădărău.
"The law, normally, cannot be changed after the meeting with the president. Let's say we got out of the session and we're changing it now. It needs to be modified with broad discussion among all the actors involved. The ones we said, the farmers, the suppliers, the banks, the government, the National Bank and the Parliament. Today we did not put in any deadline, but the deadline for, let's say, decision-making was announced on the day when the protest ended and October 10, the farmers completing their work and the sowing that they have to do now, will be a deadline when we return to discussions or protests", said the executive director of the Association Forța Fermierilor, Alexandru Bădărău.
In a press release, President Maia Sandu said that the problems in the cereal sector are complicated and that this difficult situation is repeated yearly, especially due to the increased trend of drought and heat. In this context, the head of state stated that the authorities will identify a clear instrument to protect farmers from exaggerated and forced penalties.
Also, the president gave assurances that she will talk with the Parliament and the Government to open a new communication with the farmers so that, through dialogue, mutually agreed solutions can be identified, taking into account the requests of the cereal sector, of the input suppliers, but also of the capacities state budgets.
Moreover, the head of state promised to urge the ministry to make the subsidies granted transparent by publishing a complete list of all those who benefited from subsidies from the state.
"We tried to find solutions together starting from the existing reality. Miraculous and easy solutions to a long-standing problem in the agricultural sector do not exist... () It is clear from today's discussion that we all recognize that climate change is inevitable and that substantial transformations in the agricultural sector are needed in the long term , so that we don't have the same problem year after year. Also, I am confident that such discussions, as well as the implementation of viable solutions, can only be done through dialogue. Because we want Moldovan agriculture to prosper and state aid to help specifically in this sense", said the president.
We remind you that last week farmers from several districts in the country protested for three days, dissatisfied with the law recently adopted by Parliament, which allows farmers to negotiate debt restructuring with creditors in the next 6 months. They say this is not functional and is valid for a limited time.
