AIPA paid more than 185 million lei in the form of subsidies in March, and in general, since the beginning of 2023 - about 335 million lei.
According to the Agency for Interventions and Payments in Agriculture (AIPA), in particular, in March, 185 million lei were paid out on applications for granting subsidies under various incentive mechanisms as follows: 154.45 million lei - for post-investment subsidies; 19.2 million lei - for requests for advance subsidies that contribute to improving the standard of living and employment in rural areas; 2.85 million lei - for applications for advance subsidies for the development of start-up projects; 8.5 million lei - for applications for the implementation of projects through the LEADER approach. AIPA assures agricultural producers that it is making significant efforts to speed up the process of assessing and paying for applications for financial support in the form of subsidies submitted in 2022. In general, since the beginning of the year, AIPA has allocated a total of about 335 million lei of subsidies. In 2023, according to the Law on the State Budget, the size of the National Fund for the Development of Agriculture and Rural Areas is 1.5 billion lei. Earlier, Prime Minister Dorin Recean announced that the fund for subsidizing agriculture is planned to be increased by 600 million lei this year. The Farmers' Power Association (Forța Fermierilor) advocated its increase to at least 3 billion lei. The Farmers' Power Association also called on the Moldovan authorities to increase the functionality of AIPA and solve the problem of paying subsidy debts to them, noting that out of subsidy debts for 2022 in the amount of more than 1.4 billion lei, payments of less than 20% of the total amount were authorized, and at this pace, it can be assumed that all last year's subsidy debts will not be paid until the fall of 2023. The Farmers' Power Association pointed out that the huge delay in payments comes against the backdrop of an unprecedented crisis in the agricultural sector. “The industry is extremely decapitalized, it is simultaneously affected by multiple crises, the indifference of the competent authorities and the egoism of the banking system. For many small and medium farmers, subsidies are currently the only source for survival,” the association emphasizes. In this context, Farmers' Power Association demanded urgent government intervention to strengthen the Agency for Interventions and Payments in Agriculture, so that it becomes sufficiently functional and ensures the payment of debts on subsidies in a maximum of 3 months. // 05.04.2023 — InfoMarket.
