29 October 2026
On 29 October, Prime Minister Vasile Tofan presented 19 strategic projects funded under the €1.9 billion (about $2.1 billion) EU Growth Plan for Moldova (an EU programme of grants and cheap loans in exchange for reforms). For agriculture they include about €300 million (about $336 million) for some 750 processing, storage, packaging, digitalisation and research projects, about €40 million (about $45 million) for small farms, irrigation of 6,900 hectares and the “Livada Moldovei II” programme (cheap European Investment Bank loans for farmers).
The same day, parliament extended to the end of 2026 the temporary licensing of imports (entry only with a special permit) of grain and oilseeds (sunflower, soy, rapeseed), mainly from Ukraine, which was due to expire on 31 October, and allowed the government to extend it once more by up to 12 months. The decision followed farmers’ threats of protests on 29–30 October.
An important detail: EU money for processing and storage may boost demand for equipment and services in Moldovan agriculture, but access to land remains limited. Natalia Bejan, director of Moldova’s Investment Agency, recently said UAE investors wanted at least 10,000 hectares of farmland and the country has no plots that large — land can only be obtained at auctions, and foreigners and companies with foreign capital cannot buy farmland.
Sources: InfoMarket, 29 October 2026; Yevropeiska Pravda (citing NewsMaker), 29 October 2026; NewsMaker, 12 October 2026; ECB rate approx. $1.12 per €1.