UHBDPУкраїнський проект бізнес-розвитку плодоовочівництва

Moldova business trip

ВОЛОДИМИР ТЕРНОВСЬКИЙЗаступник менеджера проекту

СЕРГІЙ ПОТАПОВМенеджер з розвитку плодоовочевого ринку

1-3 грудня 2015 р

UHBDP

Plan of visit

1st day1. Meeting with Konstantin Ozog. Head of ACSA2. Meeting with Mr. Andrei Botezatu, Group Producer Coordinator, Agricultural

Competitiveness and Enterprise Development Project (ACED)3. Meeting with Mrs. Olga Sainciuc, Deputy Director, Consolidated Agriculture Projects

Monitoring Unit (CAPMU)4. Meeting with Mr. Iurie Fala, Director, Association of fruit producers and exporters5. Meeting with Mr. Anatol Fala, Marketing expert, National Agency for Rural

Development (ACSA)

2nd day

6. Field visit to a cold storage facility in the district of Cimislia used by group of producers. Ion Bubay Business cooperative farm

7. Visit to regional office ACSA, Cimislia8. Visit to LEGBIOFRUCT. Mihail Barcaru, Director

3rd day

9. Visit opening ceremony of FructBioImpex

General information about Moldova vs Odessa region

UHBDP

http://miepo.md/

Odessa Oblast (Ukraine) -The country's largest oblast by area, it occupies an area of around 33,300 square kilometres (12,900 sq mi). It is characterised by largely flat steppes divided by the estuary of the Dniester river. Its Black Sea coast comprises numerous sandy beaches, estuaries and lagoons. The region's soils are renowned for their fertility, and intensive agriculture is the mainstay of the local economy. The southwest possesses many orchards and vineyards, while arable crops are grown throughout the region. The oblast's population (as of 2004) is 2.4 million people, nearly 40% of whom live in the city of Odessa.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odessa_Oblast

UHBDP

NATIONAL AGENCY FOR RURAL DEVELOPMENT (ACSA)

National Agency for Rural Development (ACSA) is a non-governmental, non-profit and apolitical organization that conducts its activity on the whole territory of Republic of Moldova.The aim of ACSA is the sustainable development of rural communities through establishment and maintenance of a professional network of information, consultancy and training service providers for farmers and rural entrepreneurs. ACSA insures the access of rural population to knowledge, experience and abilities related to a large range of fields focused on economic and social development of the villages from Republic of Moldova.ACSA launched its activities in March 2001 under the name "Agency for Consultancy and Training in Agriculture". At the request of its beneficiaries, the organization diversified its range of activities and the number of clients. This determined the change in the name of the Agency. Thus, in March 2005, the Agency was registered at the Ministry of Justice under the name Non-Governmental Organization "National Agency for Rural Development", keeping the ACSA logo.During the years 2001-2012, ACSA was the executive unit of the component’s "Rural Extension Services" of the Rural Investments and Services Project (RISP I and RISP II) – funded by the Government of the Republic of Moldova and World Bank. The main objective was to establish a network of rural extension service providers as a national and professional system of agricultural consultancy and rural development in Republic of Moldova.Starting with the year 2013, Rural Extension Service are still being managed by ACSA and funded only by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry (MAFI) based on the contract "Rural Extension Services" (no.29 of April 22, 2013). Additionally to this project, during 14 years of activity, ACSA has also implemented more than 80 projects that aimed at complementing and diversifying rural extension services.

All these projects were won based on national and international tenders announced by Republic of Moldova Government, World Bank, USAID, USDA, SIDA, UNDP, FAO, UNICEF, GEF, MCC, IFAD, Cepheid, Polished and other donors.

ACSA financial activity is annually audited by international financial audit companies such as Deloitte, PricewaterhouseCoopers, KPMG and other.

Description of Rural Extension Service Network MOLDOVA (ACSA)

UHBDP

Thus, ACSA manages a network formed of 35 service providers (SP) with a total number of 430 consultants, out of which 80 regional consultants, placed at district level and 350 local consultants, placed on mayoralty level. RES consultancy offices are present in all 32 districts, Territorial Autonomous Unit Gagauzia (both in Comrat, as well as in Ceadir Lunga), Balti municipality and Cainari region, but also in more than 40% of rural communities.

This is the biggest agricultural network from the country and the only one who provides access to information, training and consultancy at rural locality level. Annually RES consultants provide more than of 250 thousand of consulting services whose beneficiaries are over 300 thousand farmers, entrepreneurs and population from the villages.

Local consulting centers are placed in the premises of the mayoralties of the beneficiary localities that represent the contribution of public local authorities to the development of rural extension services in Republic of Moldova. The RES network has a territorial coverage of 45% of the total number of territorial-administrative units from those 32 districts, Balti municipality and Territorial Autonomous Unit Gagauzia, and the consulting, informational and training services are accessible to over 60% of the rural population.

The fulfillment of consultancy activities on regional and local level by SP is performed according to contractual requirements of public services’ implementation. The provision of services by SP and Local Consultants (LC) is performed according to annual, quarterly and monthly plans of activity, which are placed with other useful information on informative panels and in public places from the serviced territorial units and localities. The district and local offices are placed within the premises Local Public Authorities, are arranged and equipped with furniture, office equipment (telephone-fax, computer, and printer), informative materials and informative panels with public information. Within SP teams each regional and local consultant has a good preparation as a general practitioner, including the specialization in different sectors of agricultural and rural development, such as:

i. Fruit growingii. Grape growingiii. Vegetable growingiv. Animal husbandryv. Plant protectionvi. Agricultural economyvii. Rural entrepreneurship and development viii. Agra-tourismix. Disasters’ risk managementx. Agricultural marketingxi. Agricultural legislation xii. Agricultural ecology

All regional and local RES consultants, together with mandatory training, specialization and refresher courses, attended professional training at the Excellence Centers from Romania, Czech Republic, Israel and Poland.

UHBDP

National Agency for Rural Development (ACSA) Organizational Chart

Visit to regional office ACSA, Cimislia

UHBDP

Full description of ACSA

Description of Rural Extension Service Network MOLDOVA (ACSA)

UHBDP

Services for clients and government

- Weather forecast service Works thru SMS. Provides alarms to clients in case if the weather could damage crops. Weather forecast and current data take from the government meteorology division. This service was popular until the farmers had to pay for it. Situation is similar with the experience of UHDP.

- Price information on local marketsEach day by 2 pm 10 ACSA people send price information thru special Android app. Total number of available articles are 78. Description of these article is published on ACSA web site.

- Provides for the government Gross Margin analyses on agricultural production. That helps to government to make decisions on what direction of ag business to support thru subsidizing for cirtain crops

- Helps farmers to fulfill papers to get subsidies from government thru AIPA. - Provides publications (booklets, brochures and books ) for farmers on a payment base. As an NGO

ACSA has revolving fund for this operation. Price for publications = self-cost.The topic of each publication depends on demands of agricultural producers. ACSA has a specialist who are looking for consultant who able to write a publication according to producers needsPublications on gender and environmental issues disseminates for free but only with the support of a project that are willing to cover costs for such publications.Could be an idea for UHBDP recipients

- ACSA has direct contracts with 2 Middle East countries for consultancies on land sharing and land consolidations projects

- Actively partnering with Ukrainian companies APK-Inform, Agroanalyses and client of the Project M. Pavlivsky

Interaction between the participants of the Grant Program in Moldova

UHBDP

CAPMU

The Consolidated Agricultural Projects Management Unit (CAPMU) was created by Government Decree on September 29, 1999 by consolidating two project management units that were implementing World Bank financed agricultural projects. CAPMU is currently managing all WB/IDA projects in the agriculture and rural sectors and has been the key agency responsible for coordinating preparation of the projects.

In present CAPMU implementing a new agricultural project: Moldovan Agricultural Competitiveness Project (MAC-P) for 5 years period (2012- June 2017)

Projects implemented by CAPMU:

• Rural Investment and Services Project II (RISP II) – (March 2006 – June 2013)• Avian Influenza Control and Human Pandemic Preparedness and Response Project (AIHP) - (June 2006 - May

2011)• Renewable energy from agricultural wastes (BIOMASS) – (May 2005 – June 2008)• Agricultural Pollution Control (APC) - (Feb 2004 - Dec 2009)• Youth Socio-Economic Empowerment through Inclusive Business Development & Innovative Social Services

Delivery (YSEE) – (Dec 2003 – Dec 2009)• Rural Investment and Services Project I (RISP I) - (June 2002 – August 2006)• Rural Finance Project - (Jan 1998 – June 2001)• First Agricultural Project - (May 1996 – Dec 2001)

CAPMU staff has a wide experience in implementation of the World Bank financed projects and experience in assisting to other international donors financed projects. CAPMU is equipped with the all necessary office spaces, office and logistic equipment, vehicles, internet access, web site.

http://www.capmu.md

MOLDOVA AGRICULTURE COMPETITIVENESS PROJECT (MAC-P, November 2012- June 2017)

UHBDP

The Project Development Objective is to enhance the competitiveness of the country’s agro-food sector by supporting the modernization of the food safety management system; facilitating market access for farmers; and mainstreaming agro-environmental and sustainable land management practices. The PDO will be achieved through activities aimed at: (i) strengthening country capacity to manage the increasingly complex food safety agenda; (ii) increasing levels of farmer organization and improving post-harvest infrastructure; and (iii) promoting adoption of sustainable land management practices by farmers and ensuring a strengthened response by the authorities to soil degradation challenges.Project components:

COMPONENT 1: ENHANCING FOOD SAFETY MANAGEMENTSub-component 1.1.: Regulatory and institutional supportSub-component 1.2.: Technical enhancements for food safety managementCOMPONENT 2: ENHANCING MARKET ACCESS POTENTIALSub-component 2.1.: Business development support for productive partnershipsSub-component 2.2.: Investment support for post-harvest technologiesCOMPONENT 3: ENHANCING LAND PRODUCTIVITY THROUGH SUSTAINABLE LAND MANAGEMENTSub-component 3.1.: Capacity building for sustainable land management (SLM)Sub-component 3.2.: Financial support for piloting sustainable land managementSub-component 3.3.: Support for the rehabilitation of shelterbeltsCOMPONENT 4: Project management support, M&EThe project will be implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry (components 1 and 2) and the Ministry of Environment (component 3).PROJECTCOMPONENTS DECRIPTIONComponent 1: ENHANCING FOOD SAFETY MANAGEMENTThis component would finance activities aimed at enhancing human, institutional and technical capacity of the country’s food safety management system, as well as ensuring regulatory harmonization with EU requirements. Adoption of EU acquis on SPS carries significant implications for state institutions in charge of food safety and quality, producers and consumers. EU regulations in these fields demand some of the highest standards in the world and consequently compliance by Moldova to these rigors would entail a lengthy and complex process that requires substantial financial efforts. The component would be structured into two sub-components that would aim to address key priorities identified in the framework of DCFTA negotiations related to regulatory and institutional support and technical enhancements of the food safety management institutions.Componenta 2: ENHANCING MARKET ACCESS POTENTIALThis component would finance activities aimed at improving marketability and market integration of Moldova’s high value agricultural products – specifically in the horticultural sector – where the country has proven comparative advantages in the production of fruits and vegetables. The component would address institutional and market access elements of the competitiveness framework presented earlier by supporting government efforts in creating an enabling environment for voluntary farmer productive partnerships (business cooperatives or producer groups), and by assisting them in creating and expanding their asset base for the application of modern post-harvest technologies. This support is expected to translate into an increased share of quality products that meet safety and quality standards for target markets, and therewith strengthen the sector’s relative competiveness and consequently its income generation potential. The proposed approach recognizes that the ability of Moldova’s horticultural sector to serve increasingly demanding national and regional markets is a function of producers’ ability to organize themselves and to cooperate for purposes of lumping capital and scaling up their operations for post-harvest storage, handling, compliance with food safety requirements, adherence to target market standards, and joint promotion and marketing of produce.

MOLDOVA AGRICULTURE COMPETITIVENESS PROJECT (MAC-P, November 2012- June 2017)

UHBDP

The design of this component relies on the provision of grant-based assistance to producers for business development and investment support in order to overcome current market failures related to: (a) insufficient availability to individual producers of public goodssuch as information, knowledge and business advice on modern post-harvest handling processes, technology and market opportunities; and (b) lack of economies of scale caused by high investmentcosts and inadequate credit facilities for critically necessaryinvestments for which lumping of capital is required. These factors constitute significant disincentives for the emergence of productive partnerships and adequately scaled operations. The project would attenuate them by providing conditional business development and investment support, thus facilitating the emergence of producer groups in the horticulture sector. The major expected externalities from this approach are: (i) the demonstration effects that would set the stage for the creation of a much largernumber of productive partnerships than the project itself can support, in the horticultural sector and beyond; and (ii) policy lessons that could inform public decision making for best approaches to eliminate current market failures mentioned above.

Component 3. ENHANCING LAND PRODUCTIVITY THROUGH SUSTAINABLE LAND MANAGEMENT

This component would finance activities aimed at mainstreaming sustainable land management practices and technologies, and rehabilitation of anti-erosion shelterbelts. As part of the competiveness framework presented earlier, it would support governance and resource endowment/depletion aspects that can increase competitiveness of the agriculture sector by enhancing land productivity. The activities of the component would be aligned along three lines of support: (i) strengthening of human, institutional and technical capacity (both locally and nationally) for the implementation of SLM activities; (ii) financial support in the form of matching investment grants to farmers for piloting theadoption of sustainable land management practices and technologies; and (iii) investment support for the rehabilitation of anti-erosion shelterbelts with the purpose of maintaining and enhancing the productivity of agricultural land. Matching investment grants provided to farmers would attempt to overcome current market failures related to: (a) insufficient public goods such as information and knowledge on the practical application of knowledge-intensive and often innovative practices for sustainable land management; (b) high transaction of information costs that can only be attenuated by a wider availability of demonstrable SLM practices and technologies; and (c) long maturation of investmentsthat are not feasible for private investors, but are positive for the society at large. The major expected externalities from this approach are: (i) the demonstration effects that could catalyse a wider commercial-based application of SLM practices and technologies; and (ii) policy lessons that could inform public decision making for best approaches to mainstreaming such activities.

Component 4. PROJECT MANAGEMENT

The component would support costs associated with project implementation, including operational and consulting costs for fiduciary, component coordination, monitoring and evaluation support to MAFI and MOE.

http://www.capmu.md/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=83&Itemid=97&lang=en

RISP II: Success Stories => RISP II: Success Stories

Interaction between the participants of the Grant Program in Moldova

UHBDP

Agency’s mission: The agency of Interventions and Payments for Agriculture was created by the Government decision no. 60 of February 4, 2010. It is an administrative body subordinated to the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry. The Agency’s mission is to manage financial resources intended for supporting agricultural producers, to monitor the allocation of such resources and to evaluate the quantity and quality impact of the state’s measures intended to support farmers.

The agency carries out the following basic functions: a) ensures the correct and legal management of the funds allocated for supporting the agricultural producers; b) examines the requests and applications submitted by the applicants, as well as their eligibility to benefit state-provided funds, according to the established procedures and regulations; c) creates and keeps the Register of agricultural holdings; d) runs and internal control system with the aim to ensure the correctness of the applied procedures and systems, as well as to measure their performance.

The agency has the following basic duties: a) to approve payments to beneficiaries after having verified the requests, detected and fully eliminated the existing irregularities; b) to accept or reject applicants’ requests for payment and inform them on the errors found, according to the established procedures and regulations; c) to monitor, account and register payments in the Agency’s separate accountant registers (data processing electronic system) and prepares information related to expenses execution; d) to keep the necessary documents in the context of the internal and external control justifying carried out payments and documents confirming the meeting of the physic and administrative control requirements; e) to work out procedure and methodology guides with a view to implement functional duties legally; f) to draft payment orders and submits them to the territorial units of the State treasury; g) to ensure structural subdivisions and territorial directorates with technical equipment and supplies; h) to submit quarterly and annual reports, as well as reports on the carried out operations and their relevant aspects; i) to accountant carried out payments; j) to inform the civil society on the carried out activities.

Interaction between the participants of the Grant Program in Moldova

UHBDP

http://www.aced.md/en/

ACED Profile The Agricultural Competitiveness and Enterprise Development Project (ACED) is a five-year program, co-funded by USAID and MCC. The main objective of the project is to increase the success of the Moldovan agriculture sector in the production and marketing of high value crops. ACED will work with producer groups and value chain enterprises (packers, cold chain facilities, consolidators, input suppliers, exporters, supermarkets and others) to increase the ability of the entire value chain to produce and deliver high value crops of the right type and quality to attain profitable prices from buyers in domestic and export markets. The program will work throughout the country with a special emphasis on areas benefitting from the MCC-financed rehabilitation of central irrigation systems. The program includes four major elements: - Market Linkage Development: Beginning with accurate information about

the needs of various domestic and international markets, ACED develops direct long-term linkages between local suppliers and buyers in target markets.

- - Production Training: ACED provides a wide range of producer training and demonstration activities aimed at increasing the cost-effective production of products in high demand.

- - Technical Assistance: ACED increases the capacity of local service providers of all types critical to targeted value chains and increase their ability to provide high quality service on a commercial basis to post-harvest value chain participants.

- - Business Environment: ACED works with government agencies to strengthen phytosanitary inspection and testing capacity. ACED will also work with value chain participants to encourage targeted policy change to help attract investment in high value agriculture and facilitate profitable exports. ACED is managed by DAI, a US development project management firm that has worked in Moldova since 1994.

Fruit and Exporters Association http://www.moldovafruct.md/

• Moldova produces fruits 3 times more than it consumes• The association has 155 members. The Association Council 15 members.• Main crops are apples and sweet cherrie. 155 members of the association produce 150 tons

of apples, 25 tons of cherries.• The total storage capacity owned by members of associations is 75 thousand tons. 2

packing and sorting line.• Exported to 20 countries through the association.• Membership fee - 9,000 lei per year. But pay only about 80% of the participants.• Engaged in the lobby of interests in government agencies, provide consulting services to

association members, and spend about 15 large training events each year• In total about 2,500 fruit producers in Moldova, but there is no connection with them. Do not

want to work together.

Main points:

Interaction between the participants of the Grant Program in Moldova (Information Flow)

UHBDP

Information

MHF

SHFMHF

320 thousand contacts per year

Information

Project 3

Project 2

Project 1

12 various Projects and Programs (including the

Grant Component)

http://www.maia.gov.md/

Ministry of Agriculture and

Food Industry of Moldova

http://aipa.gov.md/en

The Agency for Interventions and Payment for Agriculture

http://www.acsa.md

National Agency for Rural Development

Ion Babai - business cooperative for growing table grapes, almonds, walnuts. The first participant Counter grant program from MAC-P, 2014, Cimislia

UHBDP

UHBDP

Ion Babai - business cooperative for growing table grapes, almonds, walnuts. The first participant Counter grant program from MAC-P, 2014

Ion Babai business cooperative:

• 6 members of the cooperative, established in 2013• 15 years of experience in agriculture• 100 hectares of table grapes and 70 to walnut orchards• All the gardens are under irrigation• Two-filled reservoir capacity of 30,000 cubic meters and one

under construction• With the participation of the Project MAC-P and Program

Counter innovation grants modern (ready to certification) refrigerated warehouse was built with two pre cooler and storage of 700 tons (table grapes is preserved until February).

• The total cost of the project – 700 kUSD (14 MIO MD Lei).• Grant aid – 340 kUSD• The main directions of sales table grapes - 20% of the

domestic market in Moldova, 60% - Russia, 20% - Ukraine.• Walnut orchards come into commercial fruition after 3-5

years

UHBDP

LEGBIOFRUCT - business cooperative for the production of dried prunes, cultivation and storage of table grapes.

The NEXT participant Counter grant program from MAC-P, 2014, Hrtop, Cimislia

UHBDP

«LEGBIOFRUCT» - business cooperative for the production of dried prunes, cultivation and storage of table grapes, strawberries, cherries, greenhouse tomatoes, herbs and salads to …Iran.

The NEXT participant Counter grant program from MAC-P, 2014, Hrtop, CimisliaLEGBIOFRUCT business cooperative:

• 5 members of the cooperative, established in 2014• Founders have 8 years of experience in agriculture

• Has 100 he of prunes and grapes• To fulfill capacities will buy needed volume• With the participation of the Project MAC-P and Program

Counter innovation grants modern (ready to certification) refrigerated warehouse was built (two stages) storage of 1500 tons (table grapes is preserved until February).

• The total cost of the project – more then1 MIO USD. • 300 ~ kUSD bank loan (18% in lei), 350 ~ kUSD own

money, Grant aid ~ 350 kUSD• The main directions of sales products – 5-7% of the

domestic market in Moldova, 70% - different countries (Romania, Slovakia, Poland, Iran, Iraq ...& more), 20% - Ukraine.

«FructBioImpex» - business cooperative & the Packing House in Costesti became operational due to the support offered by the US and Romania. Ialoveni, Costesti, Moldova

UHBDP

Ialoveni - On December 3, 2015 held the launching of operations at the packing house in Costesti, Ialoveni, which became operational due to the support of the people of the United States and the people of Romania, through the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and Romania's Development Cooperation Programme (RoAid), and contributions from local producers FructBioImpex members of cooperatives.

In the inauguration ceremony, attended by representatives of the Moldovan Government, local authorities, producers and journalists, US Ambassador to Chisinau James Pettit noted that "the completion of construction packing house in Costesti, together with other activities by ACED demonstrates the US commitment to help Moldova to become a European country fully democratic, independent and prosperous.

«FructBioImpex» - business cooperative & the Packing House in Costesti became operational due to the support offered by the US and Romania. Ialoveni, Costesti, Moldova

UHBDP

FructBioImpex business cooperative:

• 5 members of the cooperative, established in 2014• 10 years of experience in agriculture• With the participation of the Agricultural

Competitiveness and Enterprise Development Project (ACED) and Program Counter innovation grants modern (ready to certification) refrigerated warehouse was built storage of 2800 tons (table grapes is preserved until February).

• The total cost of the project – more then1 MIO USD • Grant aid from ACED ~ 300 kUSD• Other financial aid (state of Moldova & RoAid) ~ 300

kUSD• Construction work was completed with a delay and

now storage and packing plant - without the goods. The main direction of product sales on the business plan - export.

Interaction between the participants of the Grant Program in Moldova (Responsibility Flow)

UHBDPhttp://aipa.gov.md/en

The Agency for Interventions and Payment for Agriculture

http://www.acsa.md

National Agency for Rural Development

S&MHF

agreement of intent

requirements

all necessary in

formatio

n

suggestions and contact

marketing and specific

information

Company b

ackg

round

the last

three ye

ars

(non-financia

l and ta

x data)

CONTRACT

including grant aid

info

rmat

ion

abou

t the

im

plem

enta

tion

in a

par

ticul

ar a

rea

guid

e to

act

ion

It collects all the information about the financial and fiscal activities

of enterprises in the past three years

Information about the potential of the oncoming grant

certificate of receipt of the grant counter

finan

cial

sup

port

(ban

k lo

an) t

o

impl

emen

tatio

n of

the

busi

ness

pla

n, n

et o

f gra

nt a

id

1

2

34

675

8

9

10

1112

Interaction between the participants of the Grant Program in Moldova (Money Flow)

UHBDP

http://www.maia.gov.md/

Ministry of Agriculture and

Food Industry of Moldova

http://aipa.gov.md/en

The Agency for Interventions and Payment for Agriculture

http://www.acsa.md

National Agency for Rural Development

S&MHFGrant

project

matching grant program ($, €)contract (in

cluding financing operations)

contract (including financing operations)

bank credit (or co-financing), Lei

gran

t mon

ey

fixed

ass

ets

estim

atio

n of

the

resu

lt1

2

3

4

5

Interaction between the participants of the Grant Program in Lithuania

UHBDPhttps://www.nma.lt/index.php?lang=2

History

• The National Paying Agency under the Ministry of Agriculture (hereinafter “the Agency”) was established on 11 November 1999. Upon the establishment, the Agency employed 12 people.• SAPARD support management has been the main objective of the Agency since its establishment. The right to manage this support autonomously was granted by the European Commission on 26 November 2001. The first collection of applications started in December 2001, with the first grant agreement signed with Raupaičių Ūkis, an agricultural cooperative enterprise of Šiauliai district, in January 2002.

• Upon the accession of Lithuania into the European Union in 2004, the Agency entered a new and much more difficult stage of activity, namely the management of the European Union’s Common Agricultural Policy measures. It started managing support under the measures of the Rural Development Plan 2004–2006 and the Rural Development and Fisheries Priority of the Single Programming Document of Lithuania for 2004–2006. A Single Payment Scheme for direct subsidy payments to landowners has been applied since 2004.• The financial period 2007–2013 started in 2007. It coincided with the start of the implementation of the new Lithuanian Rural Development Programme 2007–2013. EUR 2.28 billion of support has been allocated under this programme.• The payment of support under the Rural Development Plan 2004–2006 was finished on 31 December 2008 and that under Priority 4 of the Single Programming Document of Lithuania for 2004–2006 was completed on 30 June 2009.• On 5 May 2009, the Agency was issued a certificate of compliance of the Agency’s information security management system with ISO/IEC 27001:2005 requirements.• The process of application of a Common Assessment Framework was initiated at the Agency in December 2009.• A Quality Management System has been implemented in accordance with LST EN ISO 9001:2008 in 2010.• In 2012 the Agency was granted the National Quality Prize in the category of big enterprises. The annual competition of the National Quality Prize is organized by the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Lithuania and the Quality Council.• In 2013 Agency nominated for the European Knowledge Award. European Knowledge prize values European Union institutions efforts to help their employees to improve and broaden their professional knowledge.• As of 7 January 2014 Erikas Bėrontas took the Agency Director‘s office. • Environmental Management System LST EN ISO 14001:2005 installed at the end of 2014.

• The financial period 2014-2020 started in 2014. EUR 4.63 billion of support has been allocated under this programme.

• The structure of the Agency consists of the Management, 2 Senior Advisors, 11 departments, 4 independent units and 10 regional units.