OREANDA-NEWS. February 13, 2007. According to the analyst of the “Expert-Grup” Valeriu Prohnitchi, in 2007, import of vegetables increased by 83%, fruits - by 40%, cereals - 4 times, flour - 3 times, and import of seeds and fodder grew 3,3 times.

According to Prohnitchi, significant increase in import was 80% due to the growth of physical volumes of import and only 20% to the price. "Import was financed mostly by private incomes of the companies and individuals and the government could hardly form timely grain reserves,"- Prohnitchi notes.

However, the analyst pointed out that in 2007, the assistance of 16 million USD, provided by the foreign partners, exceeded the direct aid received by the farmers from the government.

According to Prohnitchi, in 2006, individual enterprises and farms received 26% of the total budgetary grants, and in 2007 - only 13%. According to estimations of the "Expert-Grup" based on the data received from the regional agricultural offices, due to the lack of funding, level of processing agricultural areas in the regions is different ranging from 60% up to 80% of all farmland. "In autumn 2007, the real migration of farmers who left for work in Russia and Ukraine to obtain necessary finance for agricultural works was observed" – Prohnitchi noted.

As of the growth of meat by 10 thousand tons, announced by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry, the expert noted that this growth was stipulated by massive slaughter of cattle. According to preliminary estimates of some heads of the regional agricultural offices, in some regions up to 30% of all cattle have been slaughtered.

Thus, over the first three quarters of 2007, the number of cattle decreased by 12% in comparison with corresponding period of 2006.