The Farmers’ Force Association is asking decision-makers in Parliament to arrange an “urgent meeting” with the National Bank leadership in order to identify a solution that allows more farmers to access both the Emergency Loan and the Working Capital Loan facilities.

In a statement, the Farmers’ Force noted “with deep regret and indignation” that the Emergency Agricultural Loan facility is “not functional for most farmers who are in payment difficulties”.

“Within three weeks of the launch of this guaranteed lending program, hundreds of farmers from different districts, mainly from the south of the country, were denied verbally and in writing by commercial banks to access loans under the pretext that they are over-indebted with rescheduled loans and negative financial indicators. This is a ridiculous situation, which cannot be described other than making fun of a lot of desperate farmers, who have suffered severely from the crises in the agrarian sector in 2022-2023”, reads the statement.

According to the farmers, some banks informed them unofficially that the main problem is with the NBM Regulation, which classes bank loans restructured more than twice as non-performing.

“According to the banks’ representatives, state guarantees do not help in this case either, and it is necessary for the NBM to introduce some exemptions for this type of loans for small farmers, as it happened in 2020. We very much regret that at the stage of discussing this lending mechanism, to our questions, Minister Bolea stated several times that there is no need for the intervention of the National Bank, and the bank’s representatives were silent”, said the Farmers’ Force.

In February, farmers staged several protest actions, taking their tractors to the streets. They blocked the access to Leușeni border crossing countless times. After several rounds of discussions with the authorities, a working group was created at the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry in which farmers also participate. The authorities have made several support instruments available to farmers, including the emergency agricultural loan, available since March 1. Also, from March 15, micro and small farmers can access the Working Capital Product. With a state guarantee of up to 1.6 million lei, but no more than 80% of the loan value, this financial instrument is designed to support the immediate needs of the agricultural sector.