The EU destroyed Moldovan agriculture, and the integration process deepens the crisis, a Russian website writes. In fact, Moscow imposed embargoes on Moldovan agricultural products, and the EU helped the Republic of Moldova.
NEWS: The Moldovan village is undergoing a systemic crisis – the number of employees in agriculture has decreased ten times compared to 1985. Whereas previously Moldova exported fruits, vegetables, dairy and meat products in the past, today it is forced to import tomatoes, potatoes and strawberries.
Over the past ten years, agriculture has gone through a five-year period of stagnation, followed by another five years of insignificant growth. Last year, the agricultural sector recorded a sharp decline – production decreased by 15%, and compared to the data of five years ago, total production went down by 13.3%. The number of employees in the agriculture sector reached 154,600 people, the lowest figure in the last eight decades.
Until recently, apples remained the main export product, but after the expulsion of a Russian diplomat, Moldova lost access to the main market – the Russian Federation. At the same time, the term of preferential export quotas to the European Union is nearing its end, and the authorities are not discussing the possibility of an extension.
NARRATIVES: 1. Europe destroyed Moldovan agriculture. 2. Apples were the main export product and Moldova lost access to the Russian market after expelling Russian diplomats. 3. The Republic of Moldova was a prosperous country during the former USSR, but the orientation towards the European Union plunged it into poverty.
PURPOSE: To fuel the perception that European Union rapprochement is harmful for Moldovan economy, especially for the agricultural sector, and that only a partnership with Russia could save this sector. This narrative seeks to undermine support for European integration and boost Euroscepticism among the rural population.
WHY THE NARRATIVES ARE FALSE: Over 2014-2023, Moldovan exports to the EU more than doubled – from $1.24 billion to $2.65 billion. Almost half of these exports are agricultural products, and their share in Moldova’s total exports has increased. Thus, agricultural exports to the EU reached almost $1.2 billion, compared to $440 million in 2014. At the same time, similar exports to CIS states decreased from $360 million in 2014 to less than $245 million in 2023.
For instance, the value of fruits and vegetables exported to EU countries (a sensitive category of products, which Russian propaganda claims are accepted in the EU), increased from $140 million in 2014 to almost $200 million in 2023, whereas exports to CIS increased from $106 to $129 million dollars. The share of CIS countries (excluding Ukraine) accounts for a little more than 7% of Moldova’s total exports.
The Moldovan Soviet Socialist Republic was by no means the richest country in the former USSR. According to statistics made public by data.un.org, the website of the UN Statistics Office, in 1990 Moldova’s GDP per capita was 1064 dollars, over 2.5 times lower than the average in the USSR. The Republic of Moldova ranked 9th out of the 15 former Soviet republics in this regard.
Apples are a sensitive product for Moldovan exports, but they are by no means the main export product, as the article claims. Fruit exports, in general, account for about 10% of total exports. This figure went down the most after 2014, when Russia imposed an embargo, not after the expulsion of Russian diplomats from Chișinău.
The Russian embargoes had temporary negative effects, but instead stimulated the diversification of foreign markets for exports, especially the EU. Brussels and affiliated institutions, as well as individual Member States, have financed several programs to support agriculture and farmers in the Republic of Moldova, especially in recent years.
The drop in the number of employees in the agriculture sector does not necessarily indicate a collapse, but reflects the modernization of this sector and the increase in the degree of technology – a normal trend in developing economies, which allows for the reduction of production costs.
BACKGROUND: Russian and pro-Russian propaganda often promotes fake news and disinformation narratives (which Veridica has debunked) praising Moldova’s Soviet past and criticizing EU rapprochement.
In 2014, the Republic of Moldova and the European Union signed an Association Agreement, which also includes a free trade agreement, which reduced or eliminated tariff barriers on several products, including agricultural products. In the meantime, Brussels has also granted Moldova the right to export poultry to the EU market.
On the other hand, in the last two decades, Russia has repeatedly imposed embargoes on Moldovan products, often in response to Chișinău’s political decisions, such as the signing of the EU Association Agreement. These actions suggest that embargoes are used as instruments of political pressure, rather than justified economic measures.
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