Moldova: Ministry of Agriculture predicts bankruptcy

A negative outlook on the poultry industry development over the coming months has been recently published by the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Moldova. According to the report in March-April of this year, approximately 60% of poultry farms in the country will stop operating and about 15,000 people now employed in the industry will lose their jobs.

As a result estimated monthly losses will be around 250 million lei (US$ 19.9 mln), stated government experts. Report says that these losses will occur due to underpayment of payroll tax.

Under the current competitive market conditions only 40% of manufacturers could continue their work, while these producers account for a little more than 50% of the total volume of poultry production in Moldova. The crisis of poultry production in the country followed the rise of feed prices, which led to domestic producers competing with cheap imports at current poultry sales prices.

Ministry of Agriculture expected that the vacant niche in the market could be filled by the production of foreign meat producers from Brazil, US and Ukraine. Several agricultural producers already appealed to the Ministry to prevent the catastrophe in the market and help local producers deal with the crisis. However, according to representatives of the Ministry, the government today does not have sufficient available funds necessary to support the poultry industry.