OREANDA-NEWS. July 11, 2011. Agriculture and Food Minister Vasile Bumacov has announced a significant increase in the demand for Moldovan agricultural goods on the Russian market. The minister today held a news conference to sum up the outcome of his visit to Russia, where he signed a memorandum of cooperation with his Russian counterpart, Elena Skrinik.

The document envisages the facilitation of a significant increase of the export of Moldovan goods to the Russian market. "The fruit exports can see a three-fold rise, while the vegetables and pork exports - a ten-fold increase," Bumacov said. Recently, the Russian authorities have suspended the imports of vegetables from Europe, given the danger posed by the hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS) caused by the Escherichia coli bacteria.

Vasile Bumacov spoke about the 2010 case, when the Russian Federation banned the import of Moldovan agricultural goods and foodstuffs, after the Russian agency for consumers' protection had announced that the Moldovan goods were of poor quality. "This year, the associations of producers will bear the responsibility for the goods' quality, as well," Bumacov said.

He said that a group of Russian experts will pay a visit to Moldova, in order to monitor and to make sure that the Moldovan goods meet the quality standards. The minister suggested that the packages of Moldovan goods should be enhanced, "so as to make them difficult to falsify," Bumacov said.

Referring to the pork exports, the minister said that presently there is an overproduction of pork in Moldova. Yet, he noted that this does not trigger a drop in prices on the Moldovan market, "because of the existent monopoles".