The Russian Federation will open a commercial representative office in the Republic of Moldova following a decision taken by the joint Moldovan-Russian intergovernmental commission for commercial-economic cooperation at the ninth meeting. The sides expressed satisfaction with the results of the meeting. The Russian Minister of Education and Science Andrei Fursenco, co-chairman of the commission, told the reporters that the two countries this year reached a consensus in the areas that were rather sensitive a year ago. The Russian official named among these the sale of Moldovan agricultural and wine products on the Russian market. According to Fursenco, the commission decided to open a trading office of the Russian Federation in Moldova in the near future. It will contribute to the development of the small and medium-sized businesses and will enable to inform the businesspeople about the investment possibilities. Fursenco said that trade between Russia and Moldova has increased and will total about one billion USD by this yearend. Moldova’s exports to Russia in the first eight months of this year rose by approximately 66%compared with the corresponding period last year. Also, a Russian bank could be opened in Chisinau. Andrei Fursenco said that at its last meeting, the Russian Government decided to allocate humanitarian aid to Moldova consisting of 10,000 tonnes of wheat of first category and 4,000 tonnes of fodder wheat worth 157 mln rubbles to alleviate the consequences of the drought. He added that Russia is considering the possibility of allocating other aid too. At the meeting, First Deputy Prime Minister Zinaida Greceanai said that they discussed a number of matters related to industry, transport, energy, labour migration, education and culture and she is contented with the results of the discussions and with the protocol that was signed at the end of the meeting. Greceanai said that Moldova’s economic market is open to all the foreign investors, including Russian. As regards the financial market in Moldova, it was liberalized a long time ago, the First Deputy Prime Minister said. The meeting took place in Chisinau on October 29. The tenth meeting of the joint Moldovan-Russian intergovernmental commission for commercial-economic cooperation will be held in Moscow in the third quarter of next year.