Farmers Demand New Meeting with Bolea: What For?

Farmers claim that there are shortcomings in the loans disbursement. According to them, several banks denied them loans because of negative balances or delays in repaying other loans. “Since March 1, our organization has been monitoring the process of term loans. We note with great concern that so far hundreds of farmers have been turned down by banks, namely because farmers have negative balances and loan repayment arrears. We note that banks formulate official refusals very vaguely or procrastinate in issuing written refusals, but categorically refuse farmers verbally for emergency loans. Some banks accuse the Moldovan National Bank of classifying bad loans, although during negotiations at the Ministry of Agriculture all bank representatives claimed that if there were a guarantee for the loan, the National Bank’s intervention was not required. It is alarming that in 2 weeks only 10 farmers had their loan applications accepted and guarantees issued by the ODA,” industry representatives say. Dissatisfaction among micro and small farmers is growing, and many of them feel cheated again, the Forța Fermierilor Association says. According to the organization, negotiations with Bolea, banks, the ODA and the NBM can prevent possible farmer outrage. Figures provided by the Moldovan Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry this week showed that 13 guaranteed applications for emergency agricultural loans were received between 1 and 11 March. “Under the program, which provides loans of up to 500,000 lei to each applicant, a total of about 4.95 lei million has been registered so far. Of the total number of applications submitted, 10 have already been approved (...) Commercial banks participating in the program are responsible for the detailed analysis of each application in accordance with their internal policies and procedures (...)”.