Moldova

Drought-Hit Moldova Sees Wheat Corps Just 500,00 T
Reuters, June 22, 2000

Moldova, hit by a severe three-month drought, is likely to gather a meagre 500,000 tonnes of wheat this year, below even last year's disastrous 790,000 tonnes and just half the 1998 figure, the agriculture ministry said on Thursday. Deputy Agriculture Minister Zosim Bodiu told a news conference that the unprecedented drought had already cost Moldova four billion lei ($320 million). “We now see a harvest of some 500,000 tonnes of wheat,'“ he said. “This is a crushing blow for the whole national economy.”