News about Agribusiness

Today, at 15.30, a meeting of the Forța Fermierilor Grain and Oilseeds Producers Association’s activists with the Moldovan president is scheduled. This was announced by the leadership of the organization.

According to the authorities, there are about 3,400 prisoners in Moldova who are able to work, of whom only 1,200 were working in 2025. Another 2,000 would like to be employed, but there are regulatory restrictions. In some countries, such as the Netherlands or Germany, the employment rate of prisoners reaches 80%.

The volume of agricultural production in Ukraine in January – March 2026 increased by only 1.2% compared to the same period last year.

Excessive levels of trans fatty acids were found in three large batches of imported food products by the National Food Safety Agency (ANSA).

“The Forța Fermierilor Grain and Oilseed Producers Association is deeply indignant about the way the new VAT refund mechanism for farmers is being implemented,” the organization said in a message to the media.

The head of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry (MAIA), Ludmila Catlabuga, discussed cooperation directions in the agro-food sector between Moldova and CEFTA countries during a meeting with Pranvera Kastrati, director of the Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA) Secretariat.

All Ukrainian poultry farms that supplied poultry meat to Moldova before the “scandal over antibiotic residues” in feed and eggs have resumed deliveries to the Moldovan market.

The Agricultural Interventions and Payments Agency (AIPA) last week authorized the disbursement of Lei 31.19 million from the National Fund for Agriculture and Rural Development as advance payments for investment projects.

Banks are ready to meet the needs of agricultural enterprises that find themselves in a difficult situation, but if there are prospects of recovery of the economic agent. This opinion was expressed by the chairman of the Association of Banks of Moldova, Dorel Noroc, specifying that only bank crediting is not enough for such companies.

The Republic of Moldova is hosting the 65th General Assembly of the Permanent Regional Working Group on Rural Development (SWG) of South Eastern Europe during April 21-22. The meeting will bring together officials from member countries and experts in the field from France, Hungary and Germany, which opens up opportunities for enhanced cooperation, including with non-member states.

A family of farmers in West Flanders (Belgium) decided to give away 120 tons of potatoes for free. The patrons said that people come from many parts of the country and even from France for the potatoes. The decision was prompted by a decrease in the price of potatoes due to surplus production in Europe.

In October 2025, the Moldovan government imposed a de facto ban on sugar imports from Serbia to the Moldovan market for a period of 200 days under the pretext of protecting the sector. This measure was presented as a supportive measure to give local sugar producers another hypothetical chance to “perk up”. Even at the cost of quite real sacrifices imposed on the entire food industry of Moldova. Let us assess what happened in the end.

For the first quarter of 2026, Ukrainian ports fulfilled the transshipment plan by 98% – more than 21 million tons of cargo.

The European Commission forecasts for 2026 an increase in sunflower plantings in the countries of the Union by 5%, the harvest – by 1.2 million tons (up to 9.6 million tons). As a result, production of this raw material in the EU may turn out to be the highest in the last three years.

Ukrainian shellfish producers shipped 244 tons of products to foreign markets in the first quarter, which is 27.1% more than in the same period last year.

If a store customer wants to make sure that the minimum shelf life of purchased chicken eggs has not yet expired, he or she will be able to do so. This week, a government decree was officially published and came into force, obliging egg producers to provide detailed information on the packaging.

In March 2026, only 742 thousand tons of sunflower oil were exported from Moldova. This is literally a collapse of external supplies compared to their dynamics in February – 3.2 thousand tons.

Wheat could post its strongest weekly gain in nearly two months. Drought and dry weather in key regions, including the U.S. Great Plains, Australia, and parts of the Black Sea region and Europe, have weighed on the outlook for wheat supplies.

The global garden strawberry market enters the 2026 season in a state of the “typical paradox” of the fruit business: in many regions, supply is increasing, but profitability remains fragile.

Under the Farm Credit Program (FCA), the Agricultural Working Capital (AWC) line of credit is allocated, which provides soft loans to farmers to cover current production costs.