CHISINAU (Reuters) – Moldova’s main farmers union asked the government on Thursday to create a fast-track customs lane for grain and oilseed exports, citing concern that their business could be hurt by the growing use of the country for transiting agricultural products from Ukraine.
Despite political pressure from farmers who have staged protests, Moldova is allowing grain imports from neighbouring Ukraine, which has lost its traditional Black Sea export route during Russia’s invasion.
Most of the arriving volumes transit towards Romania, and Moldovan farmers have warned of the risk of a shortage of storage capacity for its 2023 grain harvest due to the imports from Ukraine.
“The Association presented proposals to redirect transit from Ukraine to several customs offices in the north of the country, as well as creating a special customs corridor for exports of domestic grain and oilseed crops,” the Farmers’ Power association said in a statement.
Farmers’ Power chief Alexandru Slusari told Reuters the farmers had asked for a lane to be allocated for fast customs procedures for Moldovan grain and sunflower at the Giurgiulesti and Leuseni crossings on the border with Romania.
Slusari said the lane should be jointly controlled by Moldova and Romania. The association has not received a clear response to its proposals, the union said in a statement.
Trucks transporting grain queue in Moldova’s south for five to six days, while the port of Giurgiulesti on the Danube river is working very slowly, it added.
Moldova traditionally exports grain and oilseeds to Romania and Turkey. Its wheat harvest this year is forecast to total 1.2 million tons, with 400,000 tons covering domestic needs.
(Reporting by Alexander Tanas, writing by Anna Pruchnicka; editing by Tom Balmforth and Richard Chang)
