Moldova: The list of recipients of subsidies in agriculture has been expanded.
These subsidies will become available, including to micro and small agricultural producers. This is provided for by amendments to the Law on the Principles of Subsidizing the Development of Agriculture and Rural Areas, which the parliament adopted in the second reading with the aim of improving the access of small farmers to subsidies. The amendments provide for the inclusion in the law of a new category of recipients of subsidies “agricultural micro-producer” and “small agricultural producer”. An "agricultural micro-producer" means an agricultural producer who owns or uses up to 2 hectares of arable land and / or up to 1 hectare of land occupied by perennial crops, or 1 hectare of land under vegetables in the open field, or 0.1 hectares of land under vegetables in greenhouses, or up to 40 head of cattle or up to 50 head of pigs, sheep / goats and in any case does not exceed the criteria established by the Law on Small and Medium Enterprises for a micro-enterprise. A small agricultural producer means an agricultural producer who owns or uses from 2 to 10 hectares of arable land, and / or from 1 to 3 hectares of land occupied by perennial crops, or from 1 hectare to 3 hectares of land under vegetables in open ground , or from 0.1 to 0.3 hectares of land under vegetables in greenhouses, or from 41 to 100 head of cattle, or from 51 to 2000 head of pigs, or from 51 to 150 head of sheep / goats, and in any case doesn’t exceed the criteria established by the Small and Medium Enterprises Act for a small business. The bill was developed to facilitate access of agricultural producers to the funds of the National Fund for the Development of Agriculture and Rural Areas, as well as to improve the policy of subsidizing the development of agriculture and the environment in rural areas by adapting to the needs of the national economy. The document also provides for an increase in the efficiency of the process of monitoring the receipt of applications for post-investment grants. There is a provision envisaging the publication of monthly, semi-annual and annual activity reports to avoid incurring debts to grant applicants. According to official data, by October 1, 2021, 3143 applications for post-investment subsidies of 544.4 million lei were received. At the same time, in 2021, the volume of the National Fund for the Development of Agriculture and Rural Areas is 1.1 billion lei. 773.9 million lei are provided for post-investment subsidies. // 17.12.2021 - InfoMarket
