The recent amendments to the Compact Credit Facility that aims to facilitate the farmers’ access to funding for investments in the post-harvest infrastructure and high-value agriculture enable the agricultural producers to expand their investments in the agri-industrial sector.
According to the new provisions, entrepreneurs may apply for loans for construction or procurement of greenhouses for vegetables, procurement of equipment and/or associated land and new irrigation equipment and weather stations. The investments in new plantations of fruits, berries, grape or nurseries of fruit trees, table grape and berries have also become eligible for the Compact loans.
On the other hand, the minimum loan amount has been cut from 20 000 USD to 5 000 USD (or the equivalent in lei or Euro), while the maximum amount has remained 600 000 USD and the loan term is from 3 to 7 years.
Entrepreneurs can also apply for the Compact loans for procurement or construction of cold storage facilities or other storage, processing, packing facilities and equipment and/or associated land, equipment for sorting, washing, packing, processing of fruits, vegetables and grapes, quality control lab equipment, trucks compliant with the EURO 5 or 6 standards and thermo- and cold storage trucks, refrigerators etc.
The loans are meant for agricultural producers and businesses operating in the agri-food sector, such as peasant farms, individual farmers, micro, small and medium companies producing, processing or selling agricultural products, farmers’ associations, business cooperatives, partnerships etc., registered according to the applicable law and with private ownership. They must operate within the administrative borders of the rayons of Ungheni, Nisporeni, Strășeni, Hîncești, Leova, Cantemir, Cahul, Telenești, Călărași, Orhei, Criuleni, Dubăsari, Anenii Noi, TAU Găgăuzia and the extra-urban localities of the Chisinau municipality.
The goods/works/services procured with the Credit Facility funds are exempted from VAT and customs duties.
The USD 12 mil. Compact Credit Facility was launched in the autumn of 2011. It has disbursed 26 loans so far amounting to more than 4.7 million USD, 21 of which amounting to about 3.7 million USD (77.6%) having been made for construction, rehabilitation or upgrading of cold storage rooms for fruits/vegetables with a total capacity of about 18.7 thousand tons.
The Post-Harvest Credit Facility is one of the four components of the Transition to High Value Agriculture Project of the 2010-2015 Compact that aims to reduce poverty in Moldova by rehabilitating road infrastructure and facilitating the transition to high-value agriculture.
