Moldovan farmers have threatened to protest over preferential treatment for Ukraine
The Moldovan Farmers' Association “Power of Farmers” has warned of the possibility of large-scale protests over preferential terms for the rail transit of Ukrainian cargo. Farmers are demanding that the authorities take action by August 21; otherwise, they threaten to stage protests.
Alexander Slusar, head of the “Farmers’ Power” Association, said he had a meeting with Prime Minister Vasile Tofan and explained to him the farmers’ position regarding preferential rail transit for Ukrainian cargo.
“We already faced a similar situation in 2022–2023, when poorly organized transit of products from a neighboring country blocked the export of our own. Moldovan farmers were forced to sell their products at prices significantly below cost. We cannot allow our exports to be threatened by logistical or customs barriers,” he stated.
Slusar emphasized that farmers are demanding to be included in discussions regarding the organization of cargo transit from Ukraine.
The association plans to wait until August 21, when Tofan promised to hold another meeting with them, and if no satisfactory steps toward a solution are taken by then, it plans to hold mass protests.
This was reported by Newsmaker.
Moldovan farmers are outraged over the discount on the transit of Ukrainian cargo.
As a reminder, Moldova halved the transit tariff for Ukrainian cargo following a request from Kyiv.
Ukraine is considering the possibility of transporting grain by rail through Moldova to the Romanian port of Constanța as a safer alternative to sea exports. Kyiv has already appealed to Chisinau to establish a reduced tariff for such shipments.
As a reminder, grain exports from Ukraine could fall by more than half.
