Direct telephone connection with Transnistria has not been restored as promised

There is no direct telephone connection between the banks of the Nistru River yet though the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology early in October announced the problem will be solved in two weeks. “We are working, but it is not easy to restore a telephone connection that was cut over six years ago,” the head of the Ministry's Communications Division Viorel Munteanu told Info-Prim Neo. He assured there are no technical problems and the fixed-line telephone networks can be interconnected in a week, but Tiraspol delays taking a decision. “We sent a number of letters to the Transnistrian administration, but have not yet received an answer and cannot initiate a direct dialogue between experts at least,” Viorel Munteanu said. He also said the Moldovan authorities want to interconnect the telephone networks first, while the Transnistrian administration expresses greater interest in the mail communication and compatibility of the electromagnetic spectrum “The Transnistrian authorities consider we took a unilateral step, but this is not true. We have worked together for three weeks. There were created two working groups and organized meetings with the heads of the communication authorities in Tiraspol,” Viorel Munteanu stated. The direct telephone connection between the banks of the Nistru was suspended in 2003. Since then, the communication is ensured by international carriers, but the tariffs are exorbitant. After a football match played in Tiraspol on September 30, Prime Minister Vlad Filat and Transnistrian leader Igor Smirnov agreed to reconnect the fixed-line telephone networks.