The OSCE Mission office in Tiraspol hosted the meeting of political representatives from Pridnestrovie and the Republic of Moldova, Vitaly Ignatiev and Alexander Flenchea.
During the meeting, the interlocutors discussed a wide range of relevant aspects of the negotiation process agenda between Pridnestrovie and the Republic of Moldova emphasizing transport and import of goods in Pridnestrovie issues from February 1, 2020.
The sides discussed in details the ban for vehicles with Pridnestrovian plates imposed by the Moldovan side on crossing the Moldovan-Ukrainian border. It was stated that such unilateral actions during the ongoing negotiation process aimed to fully implement the agreement of April 24, 2018 are totally inadmissible. The Minister urged to suspend the restrictive measures until according decisions to resolve the issue of driver's licenses will be taken. Particular attention was paid to the interests of Pridnestrovian companies engaged in the international traffic. According to the Pridnestrovian side the admission to register their vehicles in the PRTS with neutral plates would partially reduce the tension of the problem.
As a result, the parties agreed to arrange meetings of relevant experts in upcoming weeks to discuss the whole range of issues in the transport sector.
“I requested explanations from the Moldovan side on detentions and limitations of the Moldovan-Ukrainian border crossing for cars with Pridnestrovian plates. Chisinau's answer did not satisfy me. It is clear that these measures have been taken unilaterally, without informing and warning, and also in the conditions when we continue negotiating, since the working PRTS mechanism is ineffective and does not take into account all the categories of Pridnestrovian residents. Restrictions or other forms of discrimination in terms of freedom of movement are unacceptable, therefore we demanded that Chisinau refuse this kind of action. We also appealed to international partners. Next week, we expect the visit of the recently appointed Special Representative of the OSCE Chairmanship Thomas Mayr-Harting, with whom we also plan to discuss this issue,” Vitaly Ignatiev said to the press after the meeting.
Following the discussion, the Pridnestrovian emphasized the complex of problems associated with the so-called "Second phase" of joint customs and border control at the checkpoint "Kuchurgan". The Minister drew attention to a significant dynamics decrease of interaction between subject experts who are to agree on the parameters of goods import to Pridnestrovie, thus impeding to develop the final mechanism by February 1, 2020. As noted by Vitaly Ignatiev, this threatens the supply of a significant number of categories of goods, including medicines, food, veterinary drugs, etc. That given, the Pridnestrovian side emphasized the need to give experts more time to find balanced and coordinated solutions.
During the conversation, the parties discussed issues of banking cooperation, criminal cases, telecommunications, the work of individual Pridnestrovian enterprises, the railway, etc. In this context, the PMR Foreign Minister expressed for a return to dynamic interaction at all levels of the negotiation process, including meetings of political representatives, meetings of expert (working) groups and the “Permanent Meeting ...” in the “5 + 2” format. Vitaly Ignatiev and Alexander Flenchea agreed anticipatory to hold about ten meetings of industry experts in the coming weeks to find reasonable compromises on the most pressing issues of the agenda.
The sides also touched upon the prospects of signing the previously agreed by industry experts draft agreements. “On the negotiating table there are also “stuck” draft documents that were agreed by experts, but not signed by the political representative from Moldova last year. I hope that the Moldovan side will reconsider its approach, since these documents concern the rights and interests of people: beginning with the agreement on the unattended children return and ending with technical barriers to trade removal. I hope that today's meeting will allow restarting our dialogue on a more subject and substantive level,” the Pridnestrovian Foreign Minister noted.
