OREANDA-NEWS. February 18, 2011. The respective decision was taken at the meeting of the Sugar Producers Union of Moldova with the Ministry of Agriculture’s leadership participating to avoid deficit in the home market and to stop rise in prices for this product.

Two largest sugar producers in the country - Sudzucker Moldova and Magt-Vest agreed not to export sugar till the new sugar beet processing season, as sugar stock in the country has reduced considerably lately due to the mass export of the product to Ukraine and other countries, where sugar prices are 40% higher. The mass sugar export from Moldova resulted in the rise in its cost in the local market and appearance of the risk of deficit.

Vasilii Bumacov, Minister of Agriculture and Food Industry of Moldova, said the sugar stock available would be enough for the Moldovan market with the decision on sugar export suspension taken by the country’s largest sugar producers.

According to him, Moldova’s home market will need about 42 thousand tones of sugar till the new harvest. Experts from the Ministry of Agriculture said sugar prices had risen in the country earlier, and according to forecasts, could continue growing due to the mass illegal sugar export to Transnistria and Ukraine. People buy sacks of sugar in Moldova and take it to sell in Ukraine due to the big different in price.

Prime Minister Vladimir Filat said earlier it was necessary to take measures to stop or cut growth of prices for sugar in Moldova due to its mass export. The Moldovan-German enterprise Sudzucker Moldova is the largest sugar producer in Moldova. It owns three sugar plants. Its major shareholder – the European concern Sudzucker JSC – is the biggest sugar producer in the world. The Magt-Vest company owns sugar plants in Dondiuseni and Glodeni.