Number of Romanians shopping in Moldova is increasing

Over 3.5 million Romanians crossed the eastern border of Romania in 2007, a 24.5% increase year on year, the Bucharest press reports, making reference to the data provided by the Border Police Division Iasi. Officials of the Division explain that the significant rise is the result of the fact that the number of Romanians that went to make purchases in Ukraine and Moldova increased by 347% in 2007 as the prices of the agrifood products in these countries are much lower. According to the cited source, after Romania joined the European Union, the number of foreigners fell 7%, while of Romanian citizens crossing the eastern border increased. The number of units of transport that crossed the border rose in 2007 by 38% on 2006, to about one million. Over 5,100 offences were reported on the eastern border in 2007. The fines applied totalled over 400,000 Romanian lei (approximately 1.808 million MDL). The illegal migration in 2007 was marked mainly by Moldovans’ attempts to reach Western Europe illegally. A number of 113 foreigners tried to illegally cross the green border. Ninety-five of these were Moldovan citizens, the Border Police Division Iasi said. The border police discovered and annihilated 11 networks of illegal migration - 45 traffickers and 85 victims overall. Prostitution, labour exploitation and begging were the main forms of exploitation. Sixty-one of the victims were minor, of whom 56 were forced into practicing prostitution. According to the border police, the best results in 2007 were achieved in combating cigarette smuggling. There were seized 3.8 million packages of cigarettes worth 9.4 million Romanian lei (42.57 million MDL) - 48% of the total value of confiscated goods. The number of seized cigarettes is by 73% larger than in 2006 and by 202% larger by value.