Moldovan Farmers Supporting Protest of Agrarians from Three Countries against Ukrainian Raw Materials

These countries are protesting against the “dumping invasion of agricultural raw materials from Ukraine, which brought a significant imbalance in the regional agricultural markets,” infotag.md reports. “Many Moldovan farmers are in sympathy with Ukraine and provide significant assistance to refugees from a neighboring country, but the collapse in prices for grains and oilseeds has put thousands of small and medium-sized farmers on the verge of bankruptcy, who had previously suffered from multiple climate, economic and geopolitical crises, without receiving any official support,” the statement said. The Association drew attention to the fact that the authorities of several Eastern European countries have taken measures to support domestic farmers, protect domestic markets with tariff and non-tariff methods, and even temporarily ban the import of agricultural products from Ukraine. “At the same time, the position of the Moldovan Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry on this issue of great importance for the national agricultural sector remains very passive. (...) The patience of farmers is at the limit,” the Association says. It called on the relevant ministry “to urgently start negotiations with the competent authorities of the Eastern European countries on price crisis for agricultural products and do everything possible to provide compensation to Moldovan farmers or temporarily restrict the import of grains and oilseeds into the republic during the new agricultural season.” “The financial catastrophe of national agriculture will not help Ukraine in any way and will significantly weaken the European aspirations of the Republic of Moldova,” the farmers concluded.