Sales of farming equipment down

The market of farming equipment and machinery in 2003 was one third the one in 2002, primarily because of the sharp decline in governmental subsidies for buying such equipment, producers in this industry say. The makers of farming equipment and machinery are practically dependent on the aids granted by the Agriculture Ministry every year, as more than 90% of the domestic producers’ sales of such equipment owe to the Ministry’s subsidisation. “There is a very high demand for agricultural machinery in Romania, yet it is not liquid because purchases are almost solely made through the subsidies granted by the State. Hardly anything gets practically sold in between two subsidies, because farmers wait to get the next aid first,” said Ionel Catrinoiu, general manager of MAT Craiova, the second leading domestic tractor maker after UTB Brasov. The subsidies granted for buying farming machinery and equipment last year amounted to 917bn ROL (24 million euros), 300bn ROL of which went to irrigation systems, and the rest to tractors and agricultural machinery. ZF