Insiders in Ukraine’s oil and fat industry claim that in less than a week in November, the Russian aggressor put around 50 per cent of Ukrainian companies’ vegetable oil production capacity out of action. This is a significant figure, given that the agribusiness holding ‘Kernel’ alone – which was the first to halt the procurement and processing of sunflower seeds – accounts for around 8 per cent of the global sunflower oil market through its exports. It is clear that the entire global market for vegetable fats will feel the consequences of this action. And our small country – situated ‘within walking distance’ of the epicentre of these events – will too.
Between July and October 2026, nearly 772.9 thousand tonnes of wheat were exported from Moldova – 47.8 per cent more than in the same period last year (nearly 523 thousand tonnes). In the current decade, exports of Moldovan wheat were higher only in the 2021/22 marketing year, when around 833.2 thousand tonnes of the commodity were shipped abroad between July and October.
The municipality of Ungheni now has a modern agri-food market, built following an investment of over 17.5 million lei. The project, completed in eight months, aims to improve trading conditions for agricultural producers and the shopping experience for consumers.
Apple production in the European Union during the 2026/27 marketing year is set to fall by 13.5 per cent to 9.8 million tonnes (compared with 11.37 million tonnes in the previous season). If the forecast proves accurate, the harvest will be the second lowest in the last ten years.
Students from the Moldovan Technical University, the State University of Moldova and the Chișinău College of Ecology took part in a soil research competition, which was held at the State University’s research station in Slobozia-Dușca and Onitscani (Criuleni district).
Between 3 and 13 November, the National Agency for Food Safety (ANSA) hosted an assessment mission by experts from the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety (DG SANTE) as part of Moldova’s preparations for accession to the European Union.
At the start of the current marketing year, Moldova supplied 137,980 tonnes of rapeseed to the European Union and ranked third among the largest exporters of this crop to the European market. Ukraine retained its leading position amongst suppliers, although exports of Ukrainian rapeseed to the EU fell by almost 15 per cent compared with the figure for the same period last year.
Delta Wilmar Ukraine has halted operations at all its production facilities, including the oil extraction plant in the Odesa region.
Andrian Digolean, State Secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture (Andrian Digolean) and the Director of the European Investment Bank’s Representative Office in the Republic of Moldova, Alberto Carlei, took part in the opening ceremony of the ‘Agricultural Mechanics’ and ‘Maintenance and Repair of Agricultural Machinery’ training laboratories at the Ungheni Agricultural College. The laboratory was fitted out and equipped as part of the ‘Livada Moldovei’ project, with an investment of 173,000 euros.
Eugeniu Osmochescu, Minister of Agriculture and Food, has stated that production of anti-hail rockets could begin in Moldova in 2027.
