K. Navickas meets with the Minister of Agriculture and Food Industry of Moldova
A delegation headed by Vladimir Bolea, Minister of Agriculture and Food Industry and Deputy Prime Minister of Moldova, visited the Ministry of Agriculture (MAA) to learn from Lithuania's experience in the field of agriculture in the context of the accession to the European Union (EU). The country will be holding a referendum on EU accession in the autumn alongside the presidential elections, so Lithuania's assistance to Moldova has been and is of particular importance.
Minister of Agriculture Kęstutis Navickas expressed support for Moldova's Euro-integration aspirations, saying that Lithuania appreciates the country's progress in implementing the European Commission's recommendations on de-oligarchisation and anticorruption and is keen to ensure that the real negotiations and the intergovernmental conference with Moldova (and Ukraine) take place as soon as possible.
„Minister, my friend, it is really good to see you and your delegation in Lithuania. We look forward to the decisions of the European Council and, of course, to a favourable outcome of the European Parliament elections. We are really happy and congratulate the Republic of Moldova for becoming a candidate to the EU, and we are also happy that you have chosen Lithuania as a partner to help you on your path of Euro-integration. We are always ready to share our European integration experience with our Moldovan colleagues," said the Lithuanian Minister of Agriculture in his congratulations to the Minister, whom he calls a friend.
„I am very happy to be here, we have very good inter-institutional cooperation relations between our countries, which is the result of joint work and knowledge sharing. We feel your full support and the experience and knowledge is invaluable, so we are very grateful," said Minister Bolea of Moldova.
Moldova understands that it has to try harder to get results and, if there are slower processes, it wants them to be faster, so it is visiting different countries, gaining experience and knowledge in order to make the process of training the different institutions as fast and smooth as possible, he stressed.
„We aspire to be like you, so we still have a lot of ground to cover and a lot of things to achieve," said the Moldovan minister, who devoted considerable attention to providing information on anti-corruption activities in a country that is actively preparing to join the EU.„Corruption is a cancer in our society and we are fighting against it. It is our toughest fight yet, but we are confident that we will achieve our goals."
Speaking about Lithuania's agricultural sector and its achievements, Minister Navickas stressed that agribusinesses have already realised that efficiency is the key to surviving in the market. He talked about the sector's priorities and the difficulties Moldova might face in implementing agricultural reforms.
Bilateral trade
In 2023, exports of agricultural and food products to Moldova amounted to €8.3 million (6.3% less than in 2022), ranking 70th out of 157 export partners in terms of the structure of exports by country.
Imports from Moldova in 2023 amounted to €7.7 million (25.3% more than in 2022), and in terms of imports by country, the MD ranked 43rd out of 134 countries.
Moldova's main exports are tobacco products, malt beer, bread and pastry products, cheese, prepared or preserved fish products, caviar and caviar substitutes, chocolate and other food products containing cocoa.
Moldova's main imports are sunflower seeds, linseed, wine, grape must, spirits, oilseeds, apricots, cherries, peaches, plums, grapes and nuts.
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