Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs of the PMR Vitaly Ignatiev was the guest of the morning air on the Radio 1. The main topic of conversation was the visit made by the head of the Foreign Ministry to the Russian capital last week, as well as the Memorandum on Cooperation signed between the Federal Customs Service of Russia and State Customs Committee of Pridnestrovie in Moscow on April 18 this year, and the situation in the negotiation process.
Commenting on the signing of the Memorandum on cooperation between Russia and Pridnestrovie’s customs agencies Vitaly Ignatiev said that the PMR has waited for this agreement for a long period of time. “We have worked for about two years to conclude it. The document provides a mechanism for segregation of Pridnestrovian goods that enter the markets of not only Russia, but also of the Eurasian and Customs Unions on the whole. They will not experience certain costs and complexities now which connected with the fact that the Pridnestrovian goods were considered as goods from the Republic of Moldova and were subjected to certain constraints”, the diplomat said. The head of the MFA also expressed confidence that the signed memorandum will allow to expand bilateral cooperation in trade and economic sphere in the future.
The Acting Foreign Minister also touched upon the problematic aspect related to the joint customs and border control planned by Moldova and Ukraine to be established on the Pridnestrovian-Ukrainian border. “We declare at all levels its inadmissibility, because this step can lead to a variety of costs, both political and purely economic, actually put our economic agents - not only large companies, but also individual entrepreneurs - in a very difficult situation”, noted Vitaly Ignatiev.
“In terms of the economic analysis, the study of customs rules and procedures that exist in Ukraine and Moldova, we expect that our business will not have some “opportunities”, but on the contrary, in fact will get additional barrier in the form of triple-control”, said the head of the Pridnestrovian diplomacy.
According to Vitaly Ignatiev, Moldovan and Ukrainian partners try to convince the international community that the imposing of joint control is beneficial for Pridnestrovie. “In words, this is done for us, but without our knowledge or consent, outside the negotiation process. Pridnestrovie understands the real, negative nature of the situation, so we use every opportunity to resolve it, including we propose our own initiatives, which would minimize the risks and will allow to refuse the establishment of joint posts,” he said.
“In particular, there are proposals of the Pridnestrovian side at the level of expert groups on customs cooperation. Thus, RM’s representatives say that they allegedly have no information about imports in Pridnestrovie, which is actually not true: both Moldova and Ukraine have shared these data online for a long time, and, in my opinion, our partners dissemble here. Nevertheless, Pridnestrovie is ready to form additional parity mechanism for exchange of information with neighbouring countries only if we will also obtain the information we need,” said Vitaly Ignatiev.
Detailing the existing initiatives of the Pridnestrovian side in various fields, the acting minister also noted that currently on the negotiation table there are tens of proposals developed by Pridnestrovie. “If we talk about the most relevant, it is an initiative based on international practice in the field of recognition of documents, including diplomas of higher education. Moldovan colleagues have been studying our initiatives for about two years and they still cannot determine their position on them, although they declare the readiness to recognize our diplomas,” he said.
The comprehensive draft of the agreement on transport, as noted by Vitaly Ignatiev, was also proposed for consideration by Pridnestrovian experts. “The field of cargo transportation in Pridnestrovie was once destroyed by our Moldovan partners. We believe that if we succeed to revitalize this area and renew cargo transportation, we will be able together to give impetus to the development of economic relations in the region,” said the head of the Foreign Ministry.
The full audio recording of the morning air with the Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs of the PMR can be found on the official website of “Radio 1” in the “Archive”.
