Experts say that the 101,000 tons collected this year makes this the worst harvest in Moldova’s Soviet and post-Soviet history

Experts say that the 101,000 tons collected this year makes this the worst harvest in Moldova’s Soviet and post-Soviet history. Before the summer, it might have seemed life could hardly get harder for Moldovans, already Europe’s poorest people. But even bread could now become scarce, with experts predicting this year’s wheat harvest will be just 10 percent of the average. The government is now looking to import 400,000 tons of wheat to cover the shortfall for bread and other food, and up to 600,000 tons of wheat for animal fodder. In the best of circumstances this would be a major burden on the country’s finances, but the timing of this crisis is particularly bad. Much of the rest of Europe has suffered the twin afflictions that ruined Moldova’s crop--a severe frost and drought--and prices have risen across the continent. However, while Moldova’s 4.4 million inhabitants contemplate the prospect of a staple of their diet soaring in price, government officials continue to insist that there is no bread crisis and that the prices of bread and flour products will remain at their present levels. Deputy Minister of Agriculture Gheorghe Sandulachi said the country’s main bread producer, Franzeluta, had not cut output and continued to produce 170-180 tons of bread and flour products a day.