Moldovan government to discuss transit of Ukrainian grain with farmers amid threats of protests

The negotiations will take place against the backdrop of the union’s statements about possible mass protests if the authorities do not propose a solution to organize transportation.

The Moldovan government will hold an expanded meeting with representatives of the agricultural sector on August 20 regarding the transit of Ukrainian grain by rail. This is reported by News Maker.

Representatives of the “Farmers’ Power”, other agricultural associations, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Regional Development, the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry and “Moldova Railways” will participate in the meeting.

According to government spokesman Dumitru Coric, the authorities want to provide Moldovan farmers with priority access to rail transportation and prevent the transit of Ukrainian grain from negatively affecting the domestic market.

The executive director of “Farmers’ Power”, Oleksandr Slusar, said that Moldovan farmers already had a negative experience in 2022-2023, when problems with the transit of Ukrainian products, according to him, complicated the export of Moldovan food. Farmers were then forced to sell some of their products below cost.

The Agrarian Association insists that its representatives participate in developing a mechanism for the transit of Ukrainian goods through Moldova. If the authorities do not offer acceptable solutions by August 21, the farmers have declared their readiness to move to mass protests.

The day before, USM wrote that up to 800 thousand tons of agricultural products can be exported through Moldova per month.