The event was held in the German town of Rottach-Egern.
On 29-30 October this year the annual conference on confidence-building measures in the Moldovan-Pridnestrovian conflict-settlement process was held in Rottach-Egern (Bavaria, the FRG). The event was organized traditionally by the OSCE and the Federal Government of Germany. The Pridnestrovian delegation included representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the PMR headed by Acting Minister Vitaly Ignatiev, Minister of Economic Development of the PMR Alevtina Slinchenko, as well as heads of a number of expert groups.
The conference held thematic discussions between experts of the parties on issues of economy, environment, transport and road facilities. At the end of the working discussions experts on environment managed to finally initial the Protocol decision “On cooperation in the field of environmental protection and rational use of natural resources.” The document was signed by representatives on political issues of Pridnestrovie and the Republic of Moldova Vitaly Ignatiev and Victor Osipov during the final session of the conference on October 30. The document will be placed on the official website of the Foreign Ministry of the PMR in the near future.
At the meeting of experts in the field of transport and road facilities in the context of the moratorium passed by the RM on the ban on crossing the Moldovan-Ukrainian border the sides began exploring a mutually acceptable sustainable mechanism that would provide a stable participation of vehicles registered in Pridnestrovie in international road transport. The sides agreed to soon begin intensive discussions on the technical parameters of a possible agreement on the basis of existing international initiatives and proposals of the parties.
At the economic session the Pridnestrovian side gave detailed information about the current situation in the interaction between the parties in the economic sphere noting a wide array of problems faced by the Pridnestrovian economy under conditions of a number of restrictive measures taken on the part of neighbouring countries, as well as existing international challenges. In particular, the Pridnestrovian side identified the need to work together to eliminate barriers to development of economy and trade relations.
“We are in active dialogue with the Moldovan side to remove existing obstacles to economic development. Moreover, we appeal to our Ukrainian partners, in order to also assist in minimizing the existing negative factors, as some steps, in particular the adoption of Resolution No. 117 of the Cabinet of Ministers led to a serious decrease in revenues of Pridnestrovie,” - said during the final session of the conference Vitaly Ignatiev.
The Head of the Foreign Ministry of the PMR outlined the principled position of the Pridnestrovian side on the need to resolve all the existing problematic issues exclusively by peaceful means through negotiations. “Pridnestrovie has always maintained a consistent position in the negotiation process. We refrain on principle from taking unilateral actions and the steps that can worsen the atmosphere of dialogue, despite the fact that Pridnestrovie is in a difficult conditions due to the use of restrictive actions by the Republic of Moldova. We see no alternative to dialogue and we are ready to work as intensively as possible,” - said the Head of the Foreign Ministry.
During his speech Vitaly Ignatyev also stressed the need to intensify the dialogue at the level of expert (working) groups. “Today the situation in this area is difficult: some of them work dynamically, we have already begun to forget about some of them. In particular, a working meeting of experts in the field of termination of criminal cases has not yet been held, although this problematic issue is extremely sensitive in nature,” - the diplomat said. The Head of the Foreign Ministry made emphasis on the most sensitive issues which require speedy resolution, including the politically motivated prosecution of citizens of the PMR in the RM, and the need to release from the Greek prison Pridnestrovian militiaman M.G. Kuzmichev.
When summing up, Vitaly Ignatiev noted the need to have the political will on the part of the Republic of Moldova, to abandon unilateral actions and observe the coherent approach at all levels of dialogue with a view to the effective resolution of existing contradictions.
