Moldovan economic expert Veaceslav Ionitsa said that the agrarian protests in the country can be explained by the colossal damage suffered by Moldovan farmers.
Veaceslav Ionitsa said that the agricultural sector in Moldova suffered a colossal loss in 2023. The economic expert noted that the costs of related materials and raw materials of Moldovan farmers have almost doubled, while the prices of sold products remained the same.
“Prices for agricultural products this year have halved compared to last year: from 28% for corn to 53.7% for sunflower. Look closely at the price dynamics of wheat, which today costs 2.55 lei/kg (14 cents), the same as in 2019. Now imagine how much production costs have increased since 2019 and you will understand the drama that farmers are now experiencing,” the specialist wrote in a blog post.
The expert argued that since 2019, the prices of soil fertiliser have increased 3-4 times, labour costs have increased 1.7 times, diesel fuel 1.5 times.
“That is about a two-fold increase in the cost of production, while prices have remained the same as in 2019. This year, agrarians are suffering colossal losses, I believe, incomparable to any other period. This is the reason for the protests,” Ionitsa summarised.
Earlier, RMF FM radio station reported that Polish hauliers blocked the movement of freight transport at three checkpoints on the border with Ukraine. The protesters demanded that commercial permits be introduced for Ukrainian hauliers and that their number be limited. At the same time, Ukrainian Deputy Economics Minister Taras Kachka mentioned that the blocking of checkpoints on the border between the two states by Polish hauliers would cause financial losses for the Ukrainian economy. Also, the vice-president of the Ukrainian Association of International Road Carriers, Volodymyr Balin, said that the Ukrainian economy lost 400m euros due to Polish strikers at the border of the two states.