Sergiu Statii, Head of the Business Banking Lending Department at maib, in an interview with journalist Pavel Zingan
Sergiu, hello. Can you tell us more about the Emergency Agricultural Loan program and maib's involvement in its implementation?
The situation in the agricultural sector has been difficult over the last few years. Grain producers who have suffered losses due to crises in recent years have initiated negotiations with the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry of the Republic of Moldova and the Organization for Development of Entrepreneurship (ODA) to find ways to help farmers. The Association of Moldovan Banks also participated in the negotiations.
Following the discussions, the Emergency Agricultural Loan was approved on March 1 with the government's support.
What does this initiative entail?
In partnership with the ODA, the Ministry has decided to offer micro and small farmers in the cereal crop sector the possibility of obtaining a loan of up to 500,000 MDL, of which the State guarantees 90% of the loan repayment through ODA.
The program also includes other benefits, such as a 6-month grace period for the loan and interest and the possibility of an interest subsidy.
Did ODA provide individual guarantees?
Yes. Also, when discussing programs or guarantees approved in the shortest time possible, we must consider even the smallest details. For example, during this period, the ODA changed its office. This complicated the work to some extent at the beginning when the program was launched.
So, did banks need to develop their products for this program as quickly as possible?
Yes, and maib was proactive. Knowing about the ongoing negotiations with the farmers and the fact that from March 1, the assistance program for farmers will be launched, at the Bank's Board of Directors meeting on February 29, we made all necessary decisions so that farmers could start the spring agricultural season with the help of this program. This was necessary because the program had a very short deadline - until May 31 - and there was no time to waste.
Therefore, we launched the program on March 1, with all the internal processes in place to issue the first emergency agricultural loans and advertising materials to promote the program. On the first day after the launch, we issued a press release announcing we were ready to implement the program.
To clarify: for loans up to 500 000 MDL without collateral for cereal crop farmers, 90% of the loan repayment is guaranteed by the state through ODA, with the bank risk rate of 10%.
Exactly. Our statistics show that in these three months, we have provided about 78 million MDL loans to 240 farmers. According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry of the Republic of Moldova's website data, they have approved 285 loans.
In other words, maib has granted about 84% of all loans under the Emergency Agricultural Loan program?
This is what the statistics prove. We are pleased with the result as it underlines maib's achievements and market share, as well as our active support for the development of the agricultural segment in the Republic of Moldova year by year.
Another factor that influenced this result was that the application for the guarantee and issuance of these loans was submitted remotely, using electronic signatures. This opportunity has been available for businesses since April 2023.
When ODA included the obligation to apply for a guarantee using an electronic signature in the program's terms and conditions, this was already common practice for us, as our products provided such an option for customers.
One could write a case study on planning based on this example.
Practice shows that prompt decisions are becoming increasingly important. In addition to the Emergency Agricultural Loan, another program, Agricultural Loan for Working Capital, was launched this spring as soon as possible.
What is the program?
This is the second state support measure for agriculture, also with ODA guarantees, launched on March 15. This measure has no time limit, as with the Emergency Agricultural Loan. Agricultural producers can obtain a working capital loan, for which the ODA provides a guarantee of up to 80% of the loan amount but not more than 1.6 million MDL.
Only for cereal producers?
No, there is no restriction on the field of activity. The object of the loan is working capital and/or refinancing.
And how is the implementation of the second program going?
We have yet to get general statistics from the ministry, but maib has already granted over 47 million MDL to 39 farmers.
Overall, did you grant about 125 million MDL in the spring of this year under these two programs to support agriculture in the Republic of Moldova?
The figures speak for themselves. We have also been proactive in the second program. When it was decided to launch, the bank's team prepared all internal processes and documents to simplify the process. It's no coincidence that our slogan is maib business - we join forces - we develop business!
