Prime Minister Iurie Leanca voiced hope that the political affairs will not affect the commercial relations between Moldova and Russia. He made the statement in connection with the ban imposed on the import of Ukrainian goods into Russia, IPN reports.

“The general relationship between Moldova and Russia is very important. The role of the commercial relations in this relationship is very important too. When the Russian authorities express concerns, we verify the situation and, if they are objective and refer to the quality of certain products, as earlier about the Moldovan apples, the Ministry of Agriculture takes steps,” said the Premier.

Iurie Leanca stated that he recently spoke with representatives of the Agriculture Ministry, who are permanently in touch with their Russian colleagues. “I hope the affairs will be based on strictly commercial and economic relations, while the political element will not find a place in this equation. If there are problems, we will solve them. If not, we will make everything possible to extend the trade with Russia. It is the actions and dialogue that count.  We hope to avoid generating reasons and pretexts for particular constraints,” he said.

On August 14, Russia banned the import of Ukrainian goods. Earlier, Russia’s food safety body Rospotrebnadzorul suggested it can impose certain limits on the import of Moldovan wine into Russia.