Russia is ready for a full restoration of economic relations with Moldova, but on a mutually beneficial basis, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak said on Wednesday.
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 26th September, 2018) Russia is ready for a full restoration of economic relations with Moldova, but on a mutually beneficial basis, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak said on Wednesday.
"We are ready for a full restoration of relations with the Republic of Moldova, but on a mutually beneficial basis," Kozak, who is also Russian President's Special Representative for Moldova, said at a meeting with Moldovan President Igor Dodon.
Chisinau made decisions that "de facto restricted access to the Moldovan market" for Russian businessmen, and Moscow was forced to take countermeasures, the deputy prime minister noted.
"This is an abnormal situation, the Russian government is ready for cooperation, we are ready to support the zeal and aspirations of businesses," he added.
Russia is ready to fully restore its part of the work of the Russian-Moldovan Intergovernmental Commission, Kozak said.
"The Russian part of the Intergovernmental Commission is fully ready to resume full-fledged work," Kozak said.
The pragmatic position of the Moldovan people to expand cooperation with Europe is understandable, but there is no need to break traditional, established economic ties, he added.
"Because it's easy to destroy them, but it's impossible to restore. It is very important. We have full readiness to expand [ties]," he added.
The work of the intergovernmental commission may resume in October or November, and Moldova fully supports this, Dodon told Kozak.
"I very much hope that negotiations will continue in the near future at the level of the foreign ministries, I know that this will be in October-November, and after this, or in parallel, the intergovernmental commission will begin its work. On our part, there is full support," the president said.
The intergovernmental commission has not worked since November 2016, he recalled.
"It will be two years soon. We have not had such a break of bilateral relations throughout all the 27 years of independence, so we need to resume the work of the intergovernmental commission, I told the same to the government of the Republic of Moldova," Dodon said.
Moldova, a parliamentary republic, has long been experiencing a stand-off between the president and the government over the country's foreign policy. Dodon, who took office as president of Moldova on December 23, 2016, insists on rapprochement with Russia, while the parliamentary majority and the government stick to a pro-Western course in foreign policy and call for the withdrawal of Russian forces deployed as part of the peacekeeping mission in the breakaway region of Transnistria.
In June 2014, Moldova signed an association agreement with the European Union, which, in particular, created the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) between the country and the union. The DCFTA opened the Moldovan market for goods from EU member states.
Following the ratification of the agreement, the Moldovan-Russian relations deteriorated. To prevent re-export of EU goods to Russia, Moscow introduced import duties for some Moldovan goods, turning the free trade regime between the two countries into most-favored-nation (MFN) treatment.
