The Romanian ministry of foreign affairs, Mihai Razvan Ungureanu, in an interview offered to “Guardianul” newspaper declared that since 1993, Romania granted the Republic of Moldova USD 114.6 million, and starting from next year, the first year of Romania in the EU, the assistance for the development of RM is estimated at EUR 10 million. According to Ungureanu, despite these numbers, commercial relations with Romania are only 11% from the overall commerce of RM. „Romania is the seventh foreign investor in the Republic of Moldova, but with only 4% from the overall foreign investments”, Ungureanu declared. The head of the Bucharest diplomacy mentioned that Romania wishes Republic of Moldova to be secure, a suzerain state with democratic principles, with a predictable foreign policy and a consistent and pragmatic internal policy, capable to make use of the big opportunities offered by the vicinity with Romania that, being at the eastern border of NATO and EU, cannot afford to supervise conflicts. „We need this stability in Moldova because it is part of the an equation that we want to be solved for a long time, entitled the transnistrean problem”, Ungureanu stated, and added that the premises that aid in this issue is the historical inheritance and the common culture of the two countries, the geopolitical status of Romania and by the fact that the external policy of RM is ever more pro-Europe. According to the ministry of Foreign Affairs, this year brought improvements on the 2005 exports figures, as the overall commercial exchange reached USD 411.2 million, while the Romanian export increased by almost 60% compared to the same time span from 2005. In the first seven months of this year, the overall exchange amount reached USD 260.5 million, of which almost USD 197 million are Romanian export, and by the end of this year the commercial exchange could reach USD 500 million. The minister also expressed his discontent regarding the commercial interests of RM. Only 11% from the overall trade of Moldova are done with Romania. In the same time, the Romanian official is not pleased with the value of the Romanian investments in Moldova, which do not exceed USD 45 million. „I believe the Romanian economic agents are not pleased by what RM offers and the investment climate is not reassuring. As the business in Moldova becomes more attractive foreign companies will be present shortly”, Ungureanu stated.