MOSCOW, June 3. /TASS/. Russia is ready to give Moldova a loan but only when the country achieves internal political stability, Deputy Chair of the State Duma Committee for CIS affairs, Eurasian integration and relations with compatriots Kazbek Taysaev said at a meeting of lawmakers with the leadership of civic organizations representing the interests of Moldovan citizens on Thursday.

The lawmaker reiterated that Moldova’s former President Igor Dodon was the initiator of the signing of the agreement on Russia providing a loan of 200 mln euro to the republic. "Unfortunately, pro-Western Moldovan politicians via the constitutional court managed to cancel the signed agreement," he continued.

"At the same time, the Russian side is ready to provide a loan on the condition of Moldova achieving internal political stability," he assured. The politician noted that the lawmakers are closely monitoring the situation in Moldova because Russia is one of its key foreign trade partners.

He reiterated that "until 2021, there has been zero import duty rate in effect for a number of key commodity items of Moldovan export to Russia, and these are vegetables, apples, pears, and so on." This has allowed Moldovan agricultural producers to additionally earn almost $140 mln and provide work for 32,000 Moldovan citizens, the lawmaker pointed out.

The press service of the Committee for CIS affairs noted that during the meeting, Committee Chair Leonid Kalashnikov "drew attention to an aggravated internal political situation in Moldova and expressed concern with the possibility of a negative development of the post-election situation in the republic."

In turn, the Moldovan side touched on the cancellation of mandatory labor patents for the republic’s citizens as an issue. Currently, citizens of EAEU countries where Moldova has observer status, can work in Russia without obtaining a labor patent. "We will definitely review your question and will apply every effort to create comfortable living and working conditions in our country for Moldovan migrant workers," the committee’s deputy chair said. He stated that "the current Moldovan leadership is not particularly interested in the economic development of their country and the well-being of its citizens," although the former leaders realized the benefits of participation in the EAEU for the Moldovan economy.

 

Situation in Moldova

 

On April 23 of last year, the Moldovan parliament approved a package of economic measures for supporting the population during the pandemic and the related economic crisis. Also, due to the pandemic, the 2020 state budget was reviewed and the deficit of $900 mln was planned to be compensated with the Russian loan, among other things. However, in May, the Constitutional Court at the request of the representatives of pro-European opposition parties declared the loan agreement non-compliant with the fundamental law. The opposition lawmakers said in court that it contained a number of "dubious provisions" which, in their opinion, threatened the country’s security.