CHISINAU, December 2. /TASS/. Moldova’s outgoing President Igor Dodon believes that statements regarding Russia, made by his successor Maia Sandu, can harm trade relations between the two states.
In an interview with the Moldova 1 TV channel, Dodon said that thanks to earlier agreements, his country has the opportunity to supply five categories of goods to Russia without paying customs duties. However, this agreement expires on January 1.
"What will happen after Sandu’s latest anti-Russian statements? Who will negotiate on extending the agreement? Can it be Maia Sandu, who treats Russians in such a manner? No, most likely, she won’t be able to negotiate it," Dodon said.
In his words, if the government fails to extend the current trade agreement with Russia, Moldovan companies, already badly hit by this year’s draught and the pandemic-related economic crisis, will suffer a yet another blow.
"Before making such statements, one needs to think about consequences first," Dodon said.
At a news conference on Monday, Maia Sandu called for the withdrawal of Russian troops and ammunition from Transnistria and the deployment of an OSCE civilian monitoring mission in place of the Russian peacekeepers. The foreign minister of unrecognized Transnistria, Vitaly Ignatyev, castigated her statement on Tuesday, reiterating that the Russian peacekeepers helped the sides to cease fire back in 1992 and sit down to talk.
Dodon’s presidential term expires on December 23. Sandu, declared the winner of the November 15 presidential election runoff, is to take the oath on the following day. Although the Central Election Commission has already confirmed her victory in the election, her mandate is still to be confirmed by the Constitutional Court of Moldova.