Moldova won't ban import from Russia - Moldovan PM
CHISINAU. Aug 7 (Interfax) - Moldovan Prime Minister Iurie Leanca said during a meeting with agricultural workers and preserve manufacturers of the northern regions of Moldova on Thursday the authorities will not respond to the recent decisions made by Russia, banning or restricting imports of Russian goods into Moldova.
"I have notified Russian Ambassador to Moldova Farit Mukhametshin about that," Leanca said.
Leanca said Moldova is ready to compensate fruit and vegetable producers for the losses as a result of the low purchase prices that preserve manufacturers are prepared to pay, saying the state will pay manufacturers 1.2 lei (11 dollar cents) extra for every kilo of plums processed. The decision on apples will be made on August 12 in a meeting with all parties involved, which will be held in the government.
Leanca reiterated that the government does not want producers of fruit, vegetables and manufacturers fruit and vegetable preserves, which were exported to Russia in large volumes, to suffer from this situation.
"The administration of the country understands the situation and believes we now need to decide on plums and summer sorts of apples, and the later sorts will go to EU markets, which have increased the quotas on the supply of Moldovan apples to 80,000 tonnes. Romania is ready to buy 14,000 tonnes of apples of later varieties in September," he said, adding that he has discussed the purchase of apples by large British retail chains with the British ambassador to Moldova.
Leanca said Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko will visit Moldova on September 22-23.
"His country is a reliable market for Moldovan products: wine, plums, apples, and vegetables. It's important for us to keep the Belarusian market for Moldovan products, and also the market of Kazakhstan, despite the big distance from this country," he said.
The problems of producers of fruit and vegetables and manufacturers of preserves have been exacerbated by Russia's suspension of imports of these products from Moldova, which traditionally sold 65% of these products to Russia, on July 18.
