Acting Minister of Agriculture and Food Industry Vasile Bumacov said something dubious happens at the Agency for Payments and Intervention in Agriculture. The process of providing agricultural subsidies was disrupted last year. In a program on Realitatea TV channel, the official said things at the Agency must be brought in order. He made a relevant call to the future Government and the future administration of the Ministry of Agriculture, IPN reports.
“The subsidization fund was managed very well in 2012 and 2013. But something happened afterward. Order is needed at this Agency. I cannot bring things in order myself as all those whom I dismissed were reinstated by court decision,” said the official.
He noted there were reports that some of the farmers were told to give bribe for having their applications for subsidies examined faster. “The next administration of the Government and the Ministry must do something. We say that the farmers must inform if they are told to offer bribe, but those who did it encountered many problems. I proposed that the Polish loan should be released at an interest rate lower than 2% because it is intended for two disadvantaged sectors – animal breeding and vegetable growing. They refused. I asked that this loan should be managed by a lending institution with experience, but I was warned not to become involved. I think something is going on there,” stated Bumacov.
Even if Moldova will receive European financial assistance for agriculture, Vasile Bumacov anticipates that this year will be hard for agriculture. “This year we start the implementation of the ENPARD project of over €300 million. In 2015 we will receive 150 to 200 million lei from the World Bank for paying compensations to farmers who didn’t receive them last year. The farmers invest and should not become disappointed and stop investing. This would be a disaster. For the first time last year, the exports of agricultural products were larger than the imports. Thus, this sector is important,” he said.
He also said that it is very important to remove the illegal practices from the field. The National Food Safety Agency shouldn‘t have been separated from the Ministry of Agriculture as the Agency is now controlled by a party, the Ministry by another party, while the parliamentary commission on agriculture by the third and it will be hard to promote reforms in this sector.
