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Moldova would not allow Transdniestria open Tiraspol’s international airport

Several days earlier, Transdniestria’s leader Evgeny Shevchuk ordered to start reconstruction of civil aviation from Tiraspol

CHISINAU, November 2 (Itar-Tass) — Moldova’s authorities do not allow Transdniestria to open an international airport in Tiraspol, Moldova’s Minister of Transport Anatoly Shalaru told reporters on Friday.

“We still cannot open the international airport in Tiraspol,” he said. “In line with the international practice, an international airport should receive an ICAO certificate. Here, Moldova’s authorities in Tiraspol lack both a customs access and the border police, and we cannot guarantee security of flights or passengers.”

Several days earlier, Transdniestria’s leader Evgeny Shevchuk ordered to start reconstruction of civil aviation from Tiraspol. “Within two months the government will prepare necessary documents for implementation of this project, we have started attracting sponsors,” he said, commenting on repairing of the former military airport in Tiraspol. At the same time, Shevchuk said implementation of the project depends highly on negotiations with Moldova, which “from the international point of view controls the air space. We are going to discuss these issues during negotiations,” he concluded.

Before the crash of the USSR, the aerodrome in Tiraspol was used for flights of military aviation. After 1991, there were attempts to use it for civil flights, thus making it a major airport in the region. However, the Transdniester conflict and lack of financing stopped the project. Before 1998, Russia’s military located there used the aerodrome. A week earlier, a Russian transport aircraft made a test flight to Tiraspol before taking from the region another portion of Russia’s outdated armoury.