Parties in joint commission reached agreement on solving Moldovan-Russian problems – Zinaida Grcianii

The representatives of Chisinau and Moscow in the Moldova-Russian joint commission had a constructive collaboration and by signing commission’s protocol all disputes between parties had been eliminated, the deputy prime-minister Zinaida Grecianii told reporters on September 6 after the end of the works of the 7th meeting of the Moldovan-Russian commission. According to the deputy prime-minister, the commission reached an agreement concerning the settlement of the bilateral Moldovan-Russian problems related to the thermo-energetic field and the export of Moldovan agricultural products. The signed protocol stipulates the actions which will be undertaken by the parts until the next meeting of the joint Moldovan-Russian commission, which will take place in the second half of November in Moscow. “Signing this protocol is very important, because the parts tackled many issues and because a long time has passed from the last meeting that took place in 2003”, Grecianii said. Although the actions that the Moldovan part must undertake until the end of November were not mentioned, the deputy prime-minister mentioned that “meanwhile many things can change”, and until then the parties will negotiate and will sign several documents. According to the cited source, “Moldova-Gaz” and “Gazprom” companies negotiate a future 5 year contract. But until then, many problems related to the debts of Moldova must be solved, especially the problem regarding the debts of Transnistria. Enquired if the Moldovan part did not engage itself in the process of giving up the thermo-energetic complex in order to obtain re-launching of the wine exports to Russia or for a favorable natural gas contract, Grecianii categorically rejected this option. She mentioned that attracting Russian investments does not mean that enterprises will be given up. In this context, the chairman of JSC “Moldova-Gaz”, Ghenadie Abaskin mentioned that the aim of the commission was to ascertain the present state of affairs and to formulate tasks for ministries in light of solving present problems. Abaskin did not disclose the subjects discussed at the meeting of the commission, however he mentioned that the talks will continue, and the situation might change from one day to another. He recognized that there contradictory standpoints among the shareholders of “Moldova-Gaz” about the business with natural gas and about its perspectives. Their decisions could be publicized only at the 8th reunion of the Moldovan-Russian commission. The prime-minister, Vasile Tarlev met with the Russian delegation headed by Andrei Frusenko, Russian minister of Education and Science, co-chairman of the Russian-Moldovan commission. The PM welcomed the negotiation with the Russian party and the solidarity of opinion on a constructive collaboration between Moldova and the Russian Federation in favor of both countries.