"The EU's cunning plan": Brussels lures finish off Moldova's agriculture

For another "expansion" of access of Moldovan agricultural products to the market The EU has an obvious policy of depriving the country of prospects for the development of its own production.

At the end of July, the European Union revised the provisions of the Agreement on the Deep and Comprehensive Trade Area with Moldova, which had been in force since the summer of 2022. This was presented to the public as good news about the further opening of the EU market for Moldovan products.

Indeed, customs duties on imports of garlic and grape juice, partly on tomatoes, have been abolished. Tariff quotas for some fruits and berries have been increased: four times for plums (from 15 to 61 thousand tons), three times for sweet cherries (from 1.5 to 4.5 thousand tons), twice for table grapes (from 20 to 40 thousand tons), by a quarter for apples (from 40 to 50 thousand tons). The next time these figures can be revised in 2027.

This, in theory, should inspire optimism, because domestic fruits are increasingly represented on the European market with its special requirements for product quality. It may be recalled that in 2014 the quota for duty-free import of table grapes was only 10 thousand tons, and it was chosen almost immediately.

But in 2021, the export of this berry to the EU amounted to almost 16 thousand tons, in the past — already 33.5 thousand tons. Well, now farmers can claim to supply duty-free about two-thirds of the total volume of exported grapes. So, you can rejoice and rejoice? Not really.

If you look at the dynamics, then these volumes of grapes are quite comparable to those that went to Russia and the CIS countries a decade ago, when exports to the EU were minimal. It is obvious that there are opportunities for production growth in the country. But all these years they have been held back by the lack of sales markets or, rather, forced reorientation to another one. A decade for the development of the industry was simply missed.

The picture is even less rosy with another traditional export commodity — apples. Five years ago, the production of these fruits was estimated at 650-700 thousand tons, of which a quarter of a million went abroad. And how many apples are exported to the European Union now? Less than 25 thousand tons.

That is, even a country cannot choose a dedicated duty-free quota, given the high competition in the European market. At the same time, farmers are kept on their toes by statements that the access of their products to the market The EU will depend on the gradual compliance with all European production standards, which are constantly changing.

Here I remember that a decade ago only in Russia took 200 thousand tons of apples a year. As a result, farmers uproot gardens, preferring less whimsical grain or oilseeds.

According to statistics, in monetary terms, the export of fruits and vegetables from Moldova has grown almost one and a half times in ten years (from $ 292.5 million in 2013 to $ 425.5 million in 2024). But as a percentage, their share in total exports of food products fell from 55% to 49%, while cereals increased from 26% to 38% over the same period. In the category of technical raw materials of plant and animal origin, the share of crops such as rapeseed has grown from 65 to 80%.

In the short term, such a restructuring of exports allowed farmers to earn well due to high prices in the EU. However, having occupied this niche of agricultural exports from low-value-added production, they followed a dead-end path. Natural changes over the past ten years have only exacerbated the situation. The reduction of garden areas has led to accelerated soil degradation, and the droughts that have become the norm deprive farmers not only of the opportunity to grow traditional corn, but also all other cereals and oilseeds.

This year it is possible to observe a bleak picture, as on thousands of hectares corn and sunflower have not reached the stage of seed formation. Moreover, most farmers have never considered it justified to create and operate irrigation systems for growing such crops, which is now very noticeable.

The lack of a far-sighted agricultural development policy under the incessant slogans of reorientation to the European market in practice led to cannibalism in the industry. For example, since last year, sunflower farmers have been demanding protectionist measures to maintain high prices in the country. However, such decisions of the authorities eventually turned into a complete degradation of the processing sector, writes eNews.

This year, the production of vegetable oil in the country has actually stopped, exports have decreased tenfold compared to last season. In monetary terms, the figures look even more depressing. If in 2021/2022 the export of sunflower and its processed products (oil, meal) brought the country more than 13 billion lei, then in 2024/2025 — only about 6. At the same time, the volume of exported sunflower in these seasons is quite comparable (554406 tons and 558784 tons, respectively).

All this situation suggests that the authorities have no understanding of the prospects for the development of the Moldovan agricultural sector, as there is no vision of the country's place in the common European market. Otherwise, over the past decade, European officials and advisers should have determined the specialization of the state. Initially, it was not possible to become an "All-Union granary", but Moldovans could well claim the role of a European orchard.

However, there is no interest of the European Union in such assistance, as there is no evidence of the allocation of funds under the accession policy for purposes such as irrigation or laying gardens. There are also no signals about the support of gardeners affected by spring frosts, who have not yet been compensated.

Instead, u Brussels has requirements for further opening of the Moldovan market for food products from the EU. In the course of the same revision of the provisions of the Agreement on the Deep and Comprehensive Trade Zone, we were obliged to expand the import of agricultural products by increasing quotas for pork and poultry, and new quotas for frozen meat, milk and butter were established. How such decisions will affect the domestic production of these products is easy to understand.

For clarity, we again cite statistics. Over the past ten years, the volume of exports in the category of goods such as dairy products and poultry eggs has fallen from $ 15 million in 2013 to $12 million in 2024. But their imports over the same period jumped more than three times (from 48.6 to 156.9 million dollars).

It turns out that from the high stands the Moldovans are assured of the positive development of events on the path of full-steam European integration. But in practice, the current policy only leads to the further destruction of the traditional sector of the economy and a new round of impoverishment of the population.