Slusari: Never in Moldova’s History Have Imports Exceeded to Such an Extent

Former vice-chairman of the Parliament Alexander Slusari cited alarming figures. According to the ex-MP, “the trade deficit for 10 months of 2021 reached a record $ 3.3 billion.” Slusari claims that “never in Moldova’s history have imports exceeded exports in such gigantic proportions.” “The country’s economy is completely controlled by importers, supermarkets and offshore agricultural holdings. Under the guise of a liberal model, for which our country is not ready, entire industries of domestic producers, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, are being destroyed. Moldovan processors cannot compete with imports from countries where about 40 percent of the cost of each ton of meat or milk is government subsidies, or where in the last 20 years VAT has not been collected from agriculture and remained with farmers for modernization. At the same time, excessive imports of traditional products for our country are rapidly eliminating jobs in Moldova and accelerating migration,” Slusari wrote on his Facebook page. In this regard, the former deputy warned that if the state does not develop and implement a strategy to support domestic producers in a very, very short time, an economic catastrophe with the mass bankruptcy of manufacturing companies will become inevitable and irreversible. Point