This decision was made at the request of farmers from Prahov, Buzeu and Vrancea, who claim that during the period of the system’s operation, the side effect was a decrease in annual rainfall to 100-110 mm per year. After the system was suspended in 2025, the amount of precipitation increased manifold. However, at the beginning of June, the town of Vrancea was subjected to severe hailstorms.
The order of the Romanian Ministry of Agriculture was challenged by companies supplying anti-hail missiles and launchers with long-term contracts, as well as by non-governmental organizations. However, the court rejected the claim. An important reason for this was the fact that the anti-hail systems had not been officially certified in 15 years of operation.
Currently, only Romania, Bulgaria and Moldova use anti-grad missiles in Europe. In our country, farmers welcome the activity of the anti-hail system and even demand its activation. The scientific community of the country does not connect the process of reduction and/or uneven distribution of precipitation amounts during the agricultural season with the launching of anti-hail missiles. Probably, this is not due to the fact that there are more obvious reasons for the role of drought catalysts. In particular, the extremely low (or rather, the lowest in Europe – less than 10%) level of afforestation of the country’s territory.
