Moldova raps Transdniestria's new import duties
CHISINAU. Sept 29 (Interfax) - Moldova's prime minister has slammed the country's breakaway Transdniestria province for an allegedly unilateral decision to impose customs duties on goods imported from Moldova.
"As regards form, this doesn't appear to me to be the best approach to take. It would have been absolutely normal to discuss this matter before making a decision on it. At the very least, we could have been notified about it," Vlad Filat told reporters on Saturday.
Transdniestrian leader Yevgeny Shevchuk's decree introducing the duties was reported in the media the day after Shevchuk and Filat met in Chisinau on September 26.
"It's clear that the decree was signed before the meeting. As regards the substance of the matter, let's not make hasty assessments but carry out a detailed analysis of what has happened. Apparently, the purpose of this measure is to balance out the duties on goods that arrive at the Moldovan market from the Transdniestrian region, but we need to assess it," Filat said.
Moldovan authorities would work to "rule out this kind of duality," he said.
On Friday, Transdniestria's move came under fire from Moldova's deputy prime minister for territorial reintegration, Eugen Carpov, who described it as "counterproductive" and said it "runs against the agreements reached in the course of the constructive dialogue that has evolved and [is] a backward step from the agreements that the two sides have been able to achieve during recent meetings."