In a news conference, the farmers said they give the Government seven days to fulfill a number of demands, including to call an extraordinary session of the legislature and to declare a state of emergency all over the country. Besides denouncing the Association Agreement with the EU, the farmers also demand that the Governemnt should purchase their fresh and canned fruit and vegetables, which they can no longer export to Russia, so as to compensate them for their losses, and then should identify new export markets for them.
The farmers attending the news conference said the fruit and vegetables are decaying on the trees and in containers as they cannot export them. They consider that they are not welcome on the EU market as most of the European states are agrarian countries and supply themselves with the necessary agricultural products.
The farmers from Otaci said that if the Government does not provide solutions to their problems in seven days, they will mount mass protests all over the country.
In the middle of July, Russia banned the import of fresh and canned fruit from Moldova. The Russian authorities said they will also more attentively monitor the quality of the Moldovan vegetables. As a result, the EU doubled the import quotas on apples, plums and grapes. These can be exported to the EU without paying customs duties from August 1.
