In a warehouse north of Moldova’s capital, farmer Stefan Bitlan inspects boxes of plums that will soon go to Germany as he focuses on exporting to the EU instead of Russia.
“There are many challenges, but yes, we chose the European Union,” said the 35-year-old, one of the biggest plum exporters in the country of 2.6 million wedged between war-torn Ukraine and the EU -Member States. Romania.
The former Soviet republic will hold a referendum on Sunday on joining the EU – a move by President Maia Sandu, who is also seeking re-election on the same day.
In 2023, Moldova – whose fruit industry used to depend on Russia – became the largest plum exporter to the European Union, with Sandu making the plum harvest a symbol of the success of the European shift.
After Moscow invaded Ukraine, Sandu, elected in 2020, cut ties with Russia and applied for EU membership, describing it as a matter of survival for one of Europe’s poorest countries.
– ‘Difficult decision’ –
Accession negotiations began in June, but even before that, Moldovans began seeking closer cooperation with the EU.
In 2022, plums were also among seven Moldovan agricultural products for which the EU temporarily dropped customs duties to help the country in light of the war in neighboring Ukraine.
Of the record 150,000 tonnes produced in the country in 2023, the European Union imported 60,000 tonnes, representing a quarter of the total quantity sold in the bloc.
Fresh, dried or filled with nuts and described as “the best in the world” by Moldovan Prime Minister Dorin Recean, the plums brought in 35 million euros to Moldovan producers last year.
Farmer Bitlan provided more than 10 percent of Moldovan plum exports to the EU in 2023 and, in addition to his own fruit, also bought fruit from other local producers.
With an orchard of 40 hectares, most of which are plum trees, Bitlan made its choice years ago and started exporting to the EU in 2014.
In doing so, he turned away from Russia, where past restrictions on Moldovan fruit and vegetables left farmers in a “difficult darkness”, although it was a “difficult decision” due to the many conditions and certifications associated with exporting to the EU .
But over the past five years, its sales revenue has increased tenfold.
“When selling to the EU, everything is calculated down to the millimeter, down to 0.01 cents, and if you have quality products you can’t go wrong,” Bitlan told AFP as he touched some plums to make sure they were not too soft. or bruised in the warehouse in Drasliceni, about half an hour north of the capital Chisinau.
– ‘EU orchard’ –
Plum producers are not the only ones benefiting from closer access to the European Union market.
Nearly two-thirds of Moldovan exports go to the EU, and the total value has doubled in the past decade.
Moldova now exports fruit to around 50 countries, and three-quarters of entrepreneurs are in favor of EU integration, a recent survey shows.
Moldovan exports to Russia – which in the past imposed several trade embargoes to punish Moldova for seeking closer ties with the EU – fell to 3.6 percent last year from more than 60 percent in the late 1990s, according to economist Veaceslav Ionita.
“If we ever have to thank anyone for integrating us into the European Union, it will be Russian President Vladimir Putin,” says Ionita, who describes plums as “the hero of the year” in 2023.
In the run-up to the upcoming elections and referendum, pro-Russian parties have protested against the turn to Europe.
In September, a group of protesters carried a box filled with cabbage, grapes and apples to the Ministry of Agriculture, saying the government’s pro-EU stance meant the death of Moldovan agriculture.
But for Iurie Fala, executive director of Moldova Fruct, an association of fruit producers and exporters, EU integration will “bring prosperity and stability”.
“We want to become an orchard of the European Union,” he told AFP.
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