Meeting with Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitri Rogozin on Thursday in Chisinau, Deputy Prime Minister Andrian Candu has asked for the removal of the trade sanctions imposed by Moscow, IPN learned from a press release of the Moldovan Ministry of Economy.

The two officials met in their capacities as co-chairs of the Moldova-Russia Intergovernmental Commission on Economic and Trade Cooperation. The delegations also included officials from a number of areas such as agriculture, customs, food safety and culture etc.

The meeting focused on the latest developments in the bilateral economic relationship, in particular the recent decision by Russia to impose restrictions on some groups of Moldovan exports, including the introduction of customs duties.

Andrian Candu said the imposed restrictions are “excessive and unjustified” in terms of international commitments and practices and contradict the legal framework, both on bilateral and multilateral level, governing trade with Russia. He went on to add that the reasons behind the measures are essentially political rather than economic.

In this context, Candu highlighted the importance of maintaining a constructive dialogue with a view to identifying mutually acceptable solutions to the benefit of both nations.

Further, Candu argued that consultations should continue at the level of competent governmental agencies and experts, based on objective circumstances, during which time all the restrictions should be suspended.

For his part, the Russian official talked about the need to continue dialogue at bilateral level and identify solutions to remedy the situation at the level of institutions and experts. Rogozin also confirmed his availability to arrange for such meetings to take place in September. At the same time, Dmitri Rogozin said it is necessary to also consider the interests of the Transnistria-based businesses.

The two officials highlighted the importance of the Intergovernmental Commission on Economic and Trade Cooperation as a platform to discuss a large variety of bilateral issues. In this context, the Moldovan side reiterated its willingness to convene a meeting of the Commission in the near future.

Energy cooperation represented another subject on the agenda, with the Moldovan side calling for the extension of the existing gas supply and transit arrangements until 2015.

Before this, the co-chairmen of the Moldova-Russia Commission last met in September 2013 in Moscow.