President Igor Dodon announced that Moldova will contract an emergency loan from the World Bank to support the farmers affected by the drought.

On August 10, during a press conference, Dodon announced that together with the President of the Parliament, Zinaida Greceanîi, and Prime Minister Ion Chicu, he discussed the possibility of contracting an emergency loan from the World Bank to support the farmers, who are suffering from the drought.

During the meeting, the country’s top leaders discussed the situation in agriculture, especially the unprecedented drought, which caused great damage to cereal crops. 

The head of state reminded that, previously, the authorities decided to offer aid to farmers in the proportion of 50 euros (1,000 lei) for one hectare of lost crop. 

In Moldova, about 200,000 hectares of crops of the first group (wheat, barley, etc.) were affected by the drought. Subsequently, the government will allocate about €10.1 million (200 million lei) for this purpose.

At the same time, about 500,000 hectares of the second group cereal crops (maize and sunflower) were affected.

”In this regard, the budgetary capacity of the Moldovan government is limited, so we decided to apply for an emergency loan from the World Bank to help farmers. 

Members of the Cabinet of Ministers are about to start negotiations on this issue,” said Dodon.

According to the head of state, in the coming days, government colleagues will begin the discussions with World Bank representatives on the issue of granting an emergency credit to Moldova.

“We will do everything we can to save farmers. If we do not help them now, then in the coming months many of them will not survive until the end of the year. Therefore, we need a loan to provide them with urgent assistance,” said Dodon.