CHISINAU – Farmers protesting in downtown Chisinau blocked the city’s central street, Stefan cel Mare Avenue, with their tractors, after hundreds gathered for a rally near the parliament building on Dec. 22 morning, an Interfax correspondent said in a report.
Farmers ended their rally at about 1 p.m. and again gave the government time to discuss and meet their demands. The call for blocking the central street that goes to Great National Assembly Square, where the rally took place, was made at the last moment. A number of tractors fully blocked traffic. Tens of tractors have been parked on the central square for the past two weeks. Drivers started their engines and blew tractors’ horns.
“We apologize to Chisinau residents for the inconvenience. We understand everything, but we have to act in such a manner. No one listens to us – incumbent President Igor Dodon, his parliament majority, and the government are ignoring our demands. Our actions are a desperate move. This is a warning to the authorities. We will resume protests on Tuesday, we will not step back. We have nowhere to step back,” farmer Sergiu Stefanco said.
He said that farmers also planned to block other important sites.
“Earlier today, we blocked the Albita-Leuseni checkpoint [the main checkpoint on the Moldovan western border]. We will also block the airport and other sites on the border. We will create no impediments to fellow citizens returning home from abroad for the holiday season, but we will be blocking trips of officials and transportation of international cargo,” Stefanco said.
This is not the first protest of farmers. Over 100 tractors broke into the center of Chisinau in early December and remained parked on the central square and on the sidewalk near the parliament building since then.
The demonstrators are demanding that the parliament include amendments proposed by the opposition to the Tax and Budget Policy Concept and the law on the budget for 2021. They have also demanded increasing subsidies and compensating for losses from the severe drought.
Late on Dec. 16, members of the parliamentary majority made up of the Party of Socialists and Shor Party factions gathered for a meeting without notifying the opposition and the protesters. They urgently endorsed a package of bills on the budget so as to prevent the protesters from hindering them on Dec. 17. They took into consideration only a minor part of the protesters’ demands concerning the budget bills. In particular, the parliament decided not to increase VAT for agricultural products to 12% from 8% in the Tax and Budget Policy Concept.
The farmers demand guarantees of receiving the promised subsidies in the beginning of next year. No such subsidies have been included in the 2021 budget law.
