On Tuesday, August 26, the Government backed the reintroduction of import licensing for cereal and oilseed crops — wheat, corn, sunflower — as a temporary measure to protect domestic agricultural producers, valid until October 31, 2026.
This is not yet an enforceable decision. The Government issued a favorable opinion on a draft law submitted by MP Serghei Ivanov (Partidul Nostru, chair of the parliamentary Agriculture Committee). Parliament must vote the law for it to take effect.
What import licensing means
Licensing does not ban imports — it makes them conditional on a free license issued by the Ministry of Agriculture. In practice, anyone wishing to import wheat, corn, or sunflower (except seeds for sowing) must obtain an authorization. License holders are not allowed to sell or export the imported goods — they stay on the domestic market.
The mechanism is not new. A similar regime operated from October 2023 through 2026. During that period, the Ministry of Agriculture issued 25 licenses. After the regime expired, according to the Customs Service, only 22 tonnes of sunflower were imported — “a quantity that does not have a negative impact on the domestic market,” the authorities noted at the time.
Why the return to licensing
The central issue is price. Moldovan wheat currently sells at 2.6–2.9 lei per kilogram, while the cost of production exceeds 3 lei. Ukrainian wheat would enter the market at around 2 lei per kilogram. Farmers are already selling below cost — and fear that the 2026 harvest, estimated at over 3.5 million tonnes nationally (of which some 2 million are exportable), will push prices down further if there is no import barrier.
The Forța Fermierilor (Force of Farmers) association, led by Alexandr Slusari, threatened protests if no progress was made on licensing by August 21. The association considers the October 31 deadline “insufficient for protecting the domestic market” and demands Parliament adopt the law with the possibility of extension.
What the Government cut from the original bill
Ivanov’s bill proposed licensing until December 31, 2027, with the possibility of an additional 12-month extension. The Government shortened the term to October 31, 2026 (two months), without the possibility of extension.
The reason, from the Government’s statement: “the bill does not present sufficient data to demonstrate the effectiveness of the licensing mechanism” and lacks an impact assessment, performance indicators, and comparative analyses.
The Prime Minister: “The decision is 50/50”
Prime Minister Vasile Tofan openly acknowledges the measure is not all gain:
We are trying to limit cheaper imports on the local market. At first glance, this is a very easy decision that protects grain exporting producers. But this decision also has costs: on the one hand, we help local grain producers, on the other hand — other industries are affected, for example the milling industry, livestock farming. Vasile Tofan, prim-ministrul Republicii Moldova
The risk the Prime Minister names: if milling, livestock farming, and baking lose their competitiveness, Moldova “risks importing more products with higher added value, such as flour, meat, milk, and oil.”
What Ungheni district produces
Ungheni district grows 16,889 hectares of cereals and 10,010 hectares of sunflower (NBS data, 2025). In 2024, agricultural enterprises in the district harvested some 35,000 tonnes of cereals and 12,000 tonnes of sunflower; to these one should add the harvest of farm households (another approximately 18,000 tonnes of cereals).
One detail matters: yield. Ungheni farmers get more per hectare than the national average — 33 quintals of cereals compared to 28.4 nationally (+16%), and 17.1 quintals of sunflower compared to 14.9 (+15%). The district produces efficiently. But efficiency in the field does not translate into price: at 2.6–2.9 lei per kilogram of wheat, the farmer sells below cost.
The other side: local milling
The Prime Minister named it, but millers and livestock farmers have not yet reacted publicly to the measure of August 26. Yet the impact is symmetrical: a miller or livestock farmer in the district buys cereals as raw material — and licensing makes their inputs more expensive. According to commercial databases, some 22 companies in Ungheni district are engaged in milling and processing of cereals and oilseeds.
The dilemma running through the district is the same as the national one, only more concentrated: Ungheni both produces cereals and processes them.
Ukrainian transit passes through Ungheni
A separate but related thread: Ukrainian grain transits Moldova by rail, headed for the port of Constanța. The Ungheni railway station sits on this corridor. Ukraine could transport up to 4.5 million tonnes per year on this route, and since August 10 it benefits from a 50% railway discount. Farmers fear that some of the transit grain ends up, in reality, on the domestic market.
What comes next
The draft law is now in Parliament. Until MPs vote, licensing is not in effect. The Chamber of Commerce and Industry, through its president Sergiu Harea, conditionally supported the measure, warning against creating barriers for other industries. The Government itself warns that licensing “must be verified against Moldova’s commitments under the EU Association Agreement.”