The Farmers’ Force Association has announced that it has received no official response from the government regarding its demand to preserve the reduced 8% VAT rate for agricultural products and therefore intends to resume protest actions.
The demonstrations held on June 24–25 were suspended on the condition that the government would publicly announce its position no later than June 30. According to the association, however, no such response has been provided. Farmers have now given the authorities a new deadline—the end of this week.
The association insists that isolated comments made in the media cannot replace an official government position.
“The government’s official position cannot be replaced by media statements saying that the entire fiscal and budget policy package is still under discussion,” the Farmers’ Force Association stated.
If no official response is provided, or if the government continues to insist on raising the VAT rate from 8% to 20%, farmers say they will resume nationwide protests in various forms, despite the fact that the harvest season has already begun.
According to the protesters, increasing the VAT rate would deal a devastating blow to hundreds of small and medium-sized agricultural enterprises across the country.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Alexandru Munteanu has stated that the government does not intend to change the overall direction of its tax reform. His remarks, made while farmers were protesting, have reinforced the agricultural sector’s belief that the government is ignoring their concerns.
Earlier, on June 24–25, farmers staged large-scale demonstrations, deploying more than 250 tractors to block several national highways and border crossing points.
Their key demands include maintaining the 8% VAT rate, introducing direct per-hectare subsidies, and fully restoring diesel fuel excise tax refunds for agricultural producers.
The Ministry of Agriculture says it continues to examine possible solutions for the farming sector. However, according to the Farmers’ Force Association, the government has yet to provide a concrete answer on the central issue—the cancellation of the proposed VAT increase.
