CHISINAU, June 11. /TASS/. Moldova should have good relations with Russia, which is one the largest consumers of Moldovan products, leader of Moldova’s Party of Socialists and the country’s former President Igor Dodon said on Friday, commenting on the programs of the parties that will take part in the July 11 snap parliamentary elections. Dodon, along with another former head of state, leader of the Party of Communists Vladimir Voronin, leads the Electoral Bloc of Communists and Socialists.
"We must have good relations with Russia where we sell our apples, vegetables, fruits, canned food, wine, where our goods are well known and loved," Dodon said in his video address on his Telegram channel. He noted that if relations with Russia deteriorate, and that’s what some pro-European parties are seeking, "200,000 tonnes of apples worth about two billion lei (about 100 mln euro) will remain on the trees, the way it was in the past."
Dodon expressed the hope that a parliament would be elected in Moldova after the snap elections and a government, which will deal with the expansion of exports of domestic products, would appear. "If the bloc of Communists and socialists gets a parliamentary majority, our goods will be sold on the Russian market without duties in even larger quantities," he stressed.
In spring, Chisinau failed to reach an agreement with Moscow on extending the preferential conditions for Moldova’s fruits, wine, and canned products, which expired on March 31. The decision on these preferential conditions was the result of the agreements between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Moldova’s head at the time Dodon in 2018. At that time, duties on imports of a number of goods from Moldova were canceled, and this decision was extended every six months. According to Chisinau, these benefits enabled Moldovan producers to save up to 25 million euro per year. Dodon last reached an agreement on extending that regime in December 2020 following meetings with Russian officials in Moscow.