Former minister of agriculture Valeriu Cosarciuc noted it is strange when a Head of State says the customs duties on exports to Russia will be abolished as of January 1, 2019, when these taxes should not actually exist given that the Republic of Moldova is a member of the Commonwealth of Independent States. An agreement was signed within this community, with Russia, and this agreement envisions free trade between the Republic of Moldova and Russia. In an interview for Radio Free Europe, the former minister said the statements made by President Igor Dodon after the last meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin are nothing but a pre-electoral bubble, IPN reports.
Asked if bans imposed by Russia still exist today and what an imposed, but not lifted ban actually means, Valeriu Cosarciuc said there are now no official bans, but there are customs duties. No obstacles to exports should exist now as the two states are members of the World Trade Organization and abide by the rules of this organization. Russia simply has no respect for such an agreement.
According to the ex-minister, the fact that Moldova signed the Association Agreement with the European Union was a reason for Russia to halt imports and to impose all kinds of bans and barriers. “They don’t want Moldova to be a free country that respects itself. When we signed the Free Trade Agreement and the Association Agreement with the European Union, we aimed to be free and to decide our fate by ourselves, without waiting, for example, for those from the Kremlin to tell is what we should do next,” he stated.
In another development, Valeriu Cosarciuc said Moldova’s agriculture has a future, but the people should choose an administration that would focus on the country’s economy, not on thefts of billions. “We should be able to process our products here and should not export wheat, corn, sunflower, but processed products that would bring money to the Republic of Moldova because our farmers remain with one third of the incomes, while two thirds go to those who export and those who distribute the products through the commercial network. Our policy in agriculture should be changed radically,” he noted.
President Igor Dodon said that during his visit to Moscow, he agreed with Russian officials to take concrete measures to increase Moldovans’s exports to Russia, including to eliminate the customs duties on the export of such Moldovan products as fresh and canned fruit and vegetables and wine as of January 1, 2019, for a period of six months.
