A new meeting of the key negotiators for the Transnistrian settlement process was held in Chisinau. This centered on a number of subjects, including the energy crisis, but no decisions have been taken, IPN reports.
In a press briefing, the key negotiator on behalf of Chisinau, Deputy Prime Minister Oleg Serebrian said the meeting involved representatives of the U.S, Russia, Ukraine and the EU Delegation to Moldova. The negotiations were moderated by the new Head of the OSCE Mission to Moldova Kelly Keiderling.
“Chisinau proposed several variants concerning the possibility of producing the largest possible amount of electricity for the consumers from the right side. I surely noted that the smallest price possible is the most important element for us as we need to protect our citizens and enterprises from too high bills. The stability of our electricity networks is also an important point for us. Given the war in Ukraine, we are very vulnerable as you could see. The networks cannot be subject to too serious, repeated shocks as the electricity infrastructure on both sides of the Nistru is rather worn-out in parts,” stated the official.
According to the Deputy Premier, the discussed issues will be yet amazed from a number of angles and additional discussions will be probably needed the coming days. Chisinau admits that the expectations are moderate.
Besides the energy issue, the sides also discussed the free movement. “The citizens in the Transnistrian region who come to the territory controlled by the constitutional authorities of the Republic of Moldova do not have to go through checkpoints. I noted that the checkpoints set up by Tiraspol are not only illegal, but also violate all the decisions and provisions of the status of the Security Zone. We suggested that those from Tiraspol should apply the same rules with regard to the citizens who travel form the territory controlled by the constitutional authorities of the Republic of Moldova to the region controlled by them,” stated Oleg Serebrian.
According to him, Chisinau is ready to take concrete steps to create a common space for the mobility of citizens and they voiced hope that Tiraspol will accept this proposal.
The import of medicines into the Transnistrian region was another discussed subject. Chisinau underlined the intention to create a common space and to bring the two sides of the Nistru closer in all the areas, including in the medical and pharmaceutical sectors, by avoiding the creation of parallel spaces.
A round in the 1+1 format was also held in Tiraspol a month ago. Deputy Prime Minister Oleg Serebrian announced then that even if the discussions were concrete and held in a calm atmosphere, the sides didn’t manage to reach a consensus on the energy issue.
