Moldovan farmers who came to the capital of the republic from a number of regions on tractors blocked the Chisinau-Leuseni highway, they demand that they be allowed to the capital, RIA Novosti reports.
This week, farmers organized protests in different parts of Moldova and brought agricultural equipment to the country’s highways, they are asking the authorities to help them after the loss of crops due to drought and hail. On Thursday, two convoys of tractors moved towards Chisinau, but were stopped by police officers, in the end it was decided to continue the protest on Friday morning.
One of the groups of farmers entered Chisinau, they were placed overnight under a bridge in the Telecentre district, the second group remained at the entrance to the capital. The Chisinau City Hall allowed protesters to hold demonstrations near the Southern Bus Station, but without the participation of technology.
“We brought a tractor to go to Chisinau, let us go to the Southern Bus Station, where we should have arrived from the very beginning, now the police blocked our road with their cars and we blocked the Chisinau-Leuseni highway”, – one of the protesters told the reporters.
Several dozen tractors blocked the road, blocking traffic, drivers constantly honking, creating a continuous noise.
Farmers demand that the authorities triple the promised compensation for each affected hectare of grain, now the authorities are ready to allocate about $60. Also, farmers insist on simplifying the procedure for providing subventions, declaring a state of emergency in agriculture and obtaining certificates of force majeure. The latter will allow them to restructure their loan agreements.
According to the State Hydrometeorological Service of Moldova, the past winter in the republic was “abnormally warm and with insufficient precipitation”. Most of the country received from 40% to 70% of the rainfall during the winter. In the spring, a drought was registered in half of the country’s territory; in May, heavy rains took place in the republic, but they were accompanied by hail, which damaged the harvest. The lack of rain in summer negatively affected the harvest of corn, sunflower and sugar beet, and the grain harvest suffered.