The appeal to the government was signed by both relatively small businesses and industry leaders—BUCURIA SA, ORHEI-VIT SRL, JLC SRL, RUSNAC-MOLDAQUA SRL, ALFA NISTRU SRL, PANILINO SRL, NEFIS SRL, PURATOS-MOLD SRL, MILINA SRL, SANDRILIONA SRL, INCOMLAC SRL, CAHUL PAN SRL, BRODETCHI SRL, and others.
Collectively, these companies account for about 70% of the total volume of sugar consumed by Moldovan industry.
According to market information available to these companies, current average wholesale prices for sugar are:
- in Romania—approximately 520 euros/metric ton,
- in Bulgaria – 500 euros/metric ton,
- in the Czech Republic – 450 euros/metric ton,
- in Poland – 420 euros/metric ton,
- in Ukraine – 385 euros/metric ton.
Meanwhile, the best price for industrial consumers for sugar available on the Moldovan market is approximately 700 euros per metric ton (excluding VAT).
“Such a large discrepancy with regional sugar prices significantly increases the production costs of Moldovan food manufacturers’ products with high sugar content compared to similar products from food companies in Romania, Poland, Bulgaria, Ukraine, and other countries. As a result, Moldovan companies’ ability to effectively compete with these rivals—both in foreign and domestic markets—is diminished,” states the letter addressed to the leaders of the Moldovan government.
The letter specifically notes that, unlike trading companies, industrial processors “do not seek to sell sugar as such, but rather use it in the production of high-value-added food products aimed at end consumers.” At the same time, a significant portion of the output from Moldova’s food industry is intended for export to European Union markets. For these companies, access to sugar (in their case, a raw material) “at competitive prices is a decisive factor in maintaining their position in foreign markets, including the European market.”
What do domestic food producers offer?
The Moldovan sugar market is protected from imports by a high (essentially prohibitive) customs duty of about 75%. Sugar can be imported into the country only under preferential quotas or through free trade agreements with certain countries and blocs of countries.
The main problem for industrial sugar consumers in Moldova, according to them, is that the duty-free quota for 2026 (amounting to 9,000 metric tons) for sugar imports from the European Union into Moldova was fully utilized “within a single business day, right at the start of the year, mainly by local sugar producers.”
Trading companies are in no hurry to import sugar from Serbia under the free trade agreement with CEFTA countries, as the “rules of the game” are currently unclear to operators in the Moldovan sugar market. That is to say, the prospects for the draft regulation on sugar imports, which the Ministry of Economy recently put up for public discussion once again.
Furthermore, it is objectively in the interest of sugar importers not affiliated with Moldovan food industry enterprises to keep sugar prices in Moldova as high as possible. The lack of a competitive environment allows them to do so.
In light of the above, Moldova’s food industry enterprises propose that the government:
- To suspend the process of reviewing and adopting the draft regulation on sugar imports until the Ministry of Economy, the Competition Council, and other relevant agencies present a comprehensive analysis of its economic and social impact on Moldova’s food market and food industry.
- Establish, effective January 1, 2027, a duty-free tariff quota for sugar imports from the European Union in the amount of 15,000 metric tons. The method for allocating this quota may be established by the government following consultations with representatives of Moldova’s food industry. It is critically important that the mechanism for allocating this quota be “transparent, commensurate with the actual needs of industrial sugar consumers, and prevent the quota from being entirely concentrated in the hands of an extremely limited number of beneficiaries.”
- Activate the “end-use” regime provided for in Article 323 of Customs Code No. 95/2021 with respect to sugar imports intended for industrial processing. This mechanism will ensure the traceability and control of the use of imported sugar exclusively in the recipient’s production process, as well as prevent the sale of imported sugar (in unprocessed form) on Moldova’s domestic market.
