The Moldovan government is taking steps to avoid food shortages after war broke out between its two top sources of food imports when Russia invaded Ukraine. 

40% of the food on the shelves in Moldova come from Ukraine and Russia is the second biggest source of food. To avert a crisis, the government has announced a ban on exports of grain and sugar, extended price caps for basic goods and lifted restrictions on food imports from the EU. 

To secure the supply of basic food goods, the government of Moldova banned the exports of grain and sugar (effective after March 1). To prevent market failures, it extended the price regulations from baked goods to other basic goods: pork, frozen fish, poultry, beets, white cabbage, eggs and pasta.

The government announced on February 27 that food and staple products imported from the EU, which have European certification, will be exempted from the certification procedure by the National Agency for Food Safety (ANSA), under a decision approved by the Commission for Exceptional Situations. It will stay in force during the 60-day state of emergency imposed after the invasion. 

“This will simplify and reduce the timing of product placement on store shelves and simplify the procedure for replacing products previously imported from countries currently affected by the situation in Ukraine with those imported from EU countries,” a government statement said. 

Commenting to Digi24.ro on the impact of the war in Ukraine, former prime minister Ion Sturza said the country may soon face food shortages, and Moldova thus needs support from its other neighbour Romania. However, he noted that many of the goods on the shelves in Moldova shops are supplied by international distribution companies that can source the same goods from Romania. He stressed that he was not talking about basic food goods, which Moldova has.

Speaking about the help Moldova might need from Romania, Sturza mentioned energy — fuel most likely but also natural gas and electricity (this is technically more problematic) in case the gas infrastructure in Ukraine gets damaged or the supplies are suspended. 

Like other countries that import wheat, Moldova is facing price rises. As bne IntelliNews has reported, prices for wheat in the global grain market have already soared to decade-long highs as the war in Ukraine shuts down ports and threatens to disrupt this year’s grain harvest.

Ukraine and Russia are the world’s two biggest grain producers, but the Russian attack on Ukraine has endangered Ukrainian 2022 harvest, and its Black Sea and Sea of Azov ports have already been closed as Russian forces fire rockets at key military and infrastructure objects