Modernisation of the technologies for almond harvesting and processing in Vulcanesti with EU support

Almond trees are quite rare in the Republic of Moldova. A group of five producers in the south of the country has been working for 12 years to grow and develop 150 hectares of almond trees. They prepared the land, planted the trees and now enjoy the rich fruit. But the business would not have developed without investment.  The farmers needed external financial support, especially to modernize the almond harvesting and processing process.

“We made the almond harvesting process much faster, this way we were able to keep the fruit in the best shape and pick it on time without losses. But until we had all the advantages of these modern machines, we used to do the harvesting process manually and it took up to two months of daily work. Because of the lengthy harvesting process, a good part of the fruit was lost,” said farmer Petru Topciu.

The credit accessed through the “Fruit Garden” project, with the support of the European Union through the European Investment Bank, offered them several benefits.

“It is one of more than 280 projects that are implemented so far, were loans from the European Investment Bank amounting to more than 60 million EUR have been contracted. At the same time, I would like to mention that our beneficiaries come with an own contribution of 50%, which would mean an investment of about 120 million EUR in the country’s economy,” stated Iurie Vârlan, Communication Consultant for the “Fruit Garden” project.

“Fruit Garden” offered the most attractive option to the group of producers because of the tax facilities it has, the advice it offers and the support throughout the project.

“Until now, very few farmers have dared to dream of growing almonds in the Republic of Moldova, but now it is possible with the support of the European Union and the European Investment Bank, with the support of the Ministry of Agriculture and the Government of the Republic of Moldova, which comes with an exemption from customs duties, which ultimately makes these loans very attractive“, pointed out Iurie Vârlan, Communication Consultant for the “Fruit Garden” project.

“We invite all those who wish to access loans under the Fruit Garden project, as we still have about 60 million EUR available for loans in the horticulture sector. We give them our full support,” remarked Iurie Vârlan, Communication Consultant for the “Fruit Garden” project.