A bad time for the "Cash for Clunkers" tractor replacement program

• Farmers who own tractors are already in the middle of the harvest and do not have the time needed to fill out the applications needed to replace the tractors with new ones

Hoyo of Râşnov, a tractor maker with a Chinese majority shareholder, has submitted ten notes for registration in the Cash for clunkers program for tractors, which began at the end of September. Denisa Vasilescu, the company"s general manager, expects that by the end of the program, on November 12th, she will have submitted about 30 such applications, which will then be reviewed by the Environment Administration. According to the company management, the timing of the program isn"t very good. "It is very difficult, the program was launched during the autumn agricultural campaign, and those who are working the tractors are in the field - some are harvesting the crop, others are performing the autumn works - and filling out an application for this program requires time and work, especially since each farmer must travel to Bucharest to submit the application personally", said Denisa Vasilescu.

• Complex documentation

A farmer looking to replace their old tractor with a new one must at first register with a validated tractor maker. Afterwards, they must draft the financing application, which includes 14 documents - financing request, ID card copy, registration note recorded by the certified tractor manufacturer, fiscal record certificate issued by the Ministry of Public Finance, fiscal certificate concerning the payment obligations to the state budget, fiscal certificate proving the payment of local taxes and other revenues of the local budget, issued by the local fiscal authority, registration certificate of the old tractor, identity card of the old tractor etc.