Speaking at the roundtable conference on AA and forthcoming Moldovan parliamentary elections, which was organized in Chisinau on Wednesday by the American Institute in Ukraine, Poisic stressed that one of the vital-most problems, which has to be solved without delay after the AA ratification, is certification of Moldovan products in conformity with European standards.
“Regretfully, there is no decision on the issue, and nobody seems to be thinking. Moldova has no developed industrial production – only ‘screwdriver assemblage’ still remaining. Our agriculture is too costly and, hence, uncompetitive. In Moldova, agriculture has been at a very low technical level, while governmental donations do not exceed 25 euros per a hectare, whereas in EU countries – 250 euros. How can Moldovan farmers compete with Europe in such conditions?! In this republic, 90% milk and 70% meat is produced by individuals. The same thing is with grapes. These products cannot be certified by EU standards. So, how will we be exporting them? And what will we be exporting?” demanded Mihail Poisic.
He believes that now, upon the Association Agreement signing, Moldova is facing the risk of losing the Russian market – the main one for the Moldovan farm sector. In his opinion, economic relations between Moldova and Russia may now begin developing according to one of the following three possible variants:
– Moldova continues to run trade with Russia within the framework of the CIS free trade zone;
– Russia refuses to trade with Moldova within the framework of the CIS free trade zone and switches over to World Trade Organization standards. This will mean that a 10% duty will be imposed on Moldova-made goods, which have been on the brink of competitiveness even without this duty;
– Russia closes its market to Moldova-made goods – completely.
The expert voiced an apprehension that Russia has already started using the 3rd variant, “which will be catastrophic for Moldova”.
Poisic’s opinion was not shared by Director of the www.ava.md informational-analytical portal, Chisinau political scientist Vitaly Andrievsky, who believes that Moldova has to work hard to make its goods competitive, instead of harboring a hope that the vast Russian market will swallow anything.
