“The meeting with Vladimir Putin was important as we conferred on issues of bilateral interest and established a personal relationship,” Prime Minister Vlad Filat said, referring to a recent meeting with his Russian counterpart in Yalta. “I saw a strong, pragmatic person, who knows very well the situation in Moldova”, the Moldovan Premier said during a news conference on Monday, November 23, Info-Prim Neo reports. According to Filat, he and Putin agreed to take steps to remove the barriers to the export of Moldovan products to Russia. “After the meeting with Vladimir Putin, I had a short discussion with the Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov. We agreed to send Moldovan experts to Moscow to consider ways of removing these barriers, especially to the export of Moldovan wines and alcoholic drinks. I referred to that “common window” through which the Moldovan goods are exported and to the additional certificates that make the export impossible,” Vlad Filat said. The Premier also said that he and and Vladimir Putin discussed the issue of stays of up to 90 days in Russia and considered the possibility of not obliging the Moldovans there to register temporarily in Russia. They also discussed the supply of natural gas and the problems that appear owing to the situation in Transnistria. “It was stressed that the 5+2 format of the Transnistria conflict settlement talks is acceptable to all the parties involved and that the solution to the conflict should be identified in the given format,” Filat said. As regards the US$150 million loan that Moldova could get from Russia, Vlad Filat said there will be negotiated the technical details first and then there will be made a final decision. “We hope the decision will be taken by the end of the 2009 buggetary year,” the Premier said.