Chisinau officials decline their responsibility in delaying opening Lipcani – Radauti customs office

Officials from Chisinau decline their responsibility in delaying the opening of the Lipcani – Radauti customs office. “Moldova has taken all the necessary actions to open the customs office. Unfortunately, the Romanian party has not started the works yet. The Moldovan government has notified many times the Bucharest authorities about the need to observe the provisions of the protocol signed by the parties in 2006,” deputy premier Igor Dodon stated at a briefing on January 27. According to the official, the construction works of the two-floor administrative block had been finished as early as 2007. Two control tracks were arranged and the access road of 1.5 km was built, Info-Prim Neo reports. The bridge over the Prut, the customs office, the infrastructure were financed through the TACIS project of the EU. “We have made many interpellations throughout 2007, and in the fall of 2008 we tackled this topic within a joint bilateral Moldo-Romanian Commission. Premier Zinaida Greceanai also tackled this problem during the meeting with former Romanian premier Calin Popescu-Tariceanu. So, Moldova did its best to open this border-crossing point. The Romanian party remains behind,” Igor Dodon said. The inhabitants from Briceni, Edinet, Ocnita and Doduseni districts protested last Sunday, January 25, asking the Government to open the Lipcani- Radauti customs office. People said that, because the Lipcani – Radauti bridge was not put in commission, they had to go about 150 km till Costesti- Stanca, the nearest customs house. This fact has a negative impact on the bilateral commercial and economic relations and it reduces the volume of trade.