Slusari: Bucharest Protects Its Grain Market, Chisinau Abandons Farmers

Former executive director of the Farmers’ Power Association, Alexandru Slusari, is sounding the alarm about threats to Moldova’s agriculture. He notes that Romania has extended restrictions on imports of a number of agri-food products from Ukraine, while Chisinau has not taken similar measures, according to bani.md. According to Slusari, this poses a direct threat to Moldovan exports, as Romania remains the main market for a number of strategic crops. “In 2025, more than 50% of Moldova’s sunflower seeds and about 20% of its wheat were exported via the Prut River,” he emphasized. He recalled that in autumn 2023, Moldova almost fell under Romania’s import licensing mechanism along with Ukraine. Bucharest feared that Ukrainian goods could enter the Romanian market under the “Moldovan flag”, bypassing the restrictions imposed against Kyiv. “The draft decision was already on the Romanian government’s table. We were only saved by the introduction of a licensing mechanism for grain and sunflower seeds from Ukraine. Now this mechanism no longer exists,” warns Slusari. He notes that Romania, despite its maximum support for Ukraine, is protecting its own producers, while Moldova risks being left defenseless in the face of a new wave of regional protectionist measures.