The Republic of Moldova today does not need protests in the agricultural sector. It needs cooperation and dialogue platforms, said the former chairman of “Agrocereale” Association Igor Grigoriev after representatives of the Association “Force of Farmers” announced a nonstop protest as form June 7. According to Igor Grigoriev, Moldova should not subscribe to the ban on the import of Ukrainian grains as such a decision would make Kyiv impose sanctions against Moldovan products, IPN reports.
The EU decided to maintain the ban on grain imports from Ukraine until September 15 after introducing temporary relevant preventive measures on May 2. The measures concern four agricultural products – wheat, maize, rapeseed and sunflower seed – originating in Ukraine. They aim to alleviate logistical bottlenecks concerning these products in Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia.
“The European Union extended the ban on Ukrainian grain exports to five states: Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, Poland. The decision is related to the five states’ action to free their internal storehouses from agricultural products as these states massively imported grains from Ukraine after the war started and they are large processing countries. This way, they processed Ukrainian products that were very cheap as the Ukrainians exported products at very small prices that haven’t been seen earlier in the Black Sea Region and the Danube Region. When farmers in these states complained that they have stores, the European Union had to impose such bans,” Igor Grigoriev stated in the program “Reflection Points” on Vocea Basarabiei channel.
According to him, the Moldovan government should not subscribe to the European bans as the Ukrainian grains only transit Moldova.
“This thing does not affect at all the Republic of Moldova. The Republic of Moldova has never been a massive importer of agricultural products, either before the war or after the outbreak of the war. But our business entities that earn money from intermediation, after the war broke out, brokered a number of transactions with Ukrainian grains. The agricultural products only transited the country and such transactions are not considered import transactions,” explained Igor Grigoriev.
He noted that a ban on Ukrainian grain imports would have political consequences in the relations between Moldova and Ukraine and would economically affect the fruit and vegetable producers that export to Ukraine.
“The meeting with Premier Recean involved representatives of “Moldova-Fruct” Association. They said that if Ukraine imposes similar bans in response, the fruit and vegetable producers will be struck the first. Due to the war, the exports of fruit and vegetables to Ukraine have grown and our producers benefit from these transactions. We now do not need protests in agriculture in the Republic of Moldova. On the contrary, given that the year is difficult, we need cooperation,” said the former chairman of “Agrocereale” Association.
Earlier, the Association “Force of Farmers” announced that it will stage a round-the-clock protest in the central square of Chisinau during June 7-30. According to a statement submitted to the Chisinau City Hall, agricultural machines will be brought to the protest venue.
Igor Grigoriev: Cooperation, not protest is needed in agriculture
