The Deputy Prime Ministers of Moldova and Russia, Octavian Calmac and Dmitry Rogozin, signed in Moscow the protocol of the meeting of the Moldovan-Russian commission for economic cooperation, which includes the plan of action for developing the commercial-economic cooperation between the two states for 2016 – 2017. The document includes priority bilateral cooperation actions in trade, business, energy, migration and other areas, IPN reports, quoting the Ministry of Economy.
The Moldovan side pleaded for eliminating the customs duties imposed by Russia on 19 categories of goods and the non-tariff measures imposed on the export of agrifood products, including alcoholic beverages. The issue is being examined and a final decision is to be taken in a meeting of the two Heads of State.
As regards the transport sector, the Russian side pledged to provide 75,000 authorizations for Moldovan carriers in Russia and 750 authorizations for transiting the Russian Federation to third countries. This will significantly facilitate trade between the two states and exports to such countries as Kazakhstan and Kirgizstan. The sides agreed an accord to this effect, which is to be signed in the first quarter of 2017. This year Moldova has benefitted from only several thousand authorizations for transporting goods to Russia and only 50 authorizations for transit.
As to the cooperation in the energy sector, the sides agreed that all the necessary conditions will be created and they will contribute to the signing of medium-term contracts for the supply of natural gas and transportation of gas through Moldova between “Moldovagaz” and “Gazprom” by the end of this year.
To stimulate cooperation in the business sector, the commission signed a memorandum of cooperation between the Chamber of Trade and Industry of Moldova and the Business Council under the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Russia. Moldova pleads for switching over from lists of companies authorized to export to Russia to non-discriminatory conditions whose implementation will be monitored by the competent bodies of Moldova.
The sides also examined and approved a series of measures aimed at fostering bilateral economic, commercial and other kinds of cooperation. Octavian Calmac said Moldova is interested in developing the bilateral relations with the Russian Federation in all the areas. He noted that in order to help businessmen from the two states to establish direct contacts, representatives of different regions of Moldova, including Gagauzia and Transnistria, were included in the Moldovan delegation.
For his part, Dmitry Rogozin underlined the importance of this commission, which is a very good platform for developing the bilateral relations and for solving problems that appear between the two states. “Today’s meeting showed that we can reach a consensus about problems that appear in different spheres, in accordance with our national interests,” stated the Russian official.
The Moldovan-Russian commission for economic cooperation met after a hiatus of fourt years. Its next meeting will take place in Chisinau in 2017.
