CHISINAU, July 13. /TASS/. The decision of the Moldovan government to approve the sale of the port of Giurgiulesti, the country's only outlet to the Black Sea, to the Romanian state-owned company Seaports Administration is a concession of sovereignty, said Ilan Shor, head of the Pobeda opposition bloc.

"Moldova is losing a significant part of its sovereignty. Romanian laws and regulations may come into force in the port area," Shor said on Telegram.

According to him, the republic will then have to rely on the ports of Romania or Ukraine, transportation costs will increase, taxes and investments in local infrastructure will decrease. The politician also believes that the risk of transporting weapons to Ukraine through neutral Moldova will increase.

The port of Giurgiulesti is located 133 kilometers off the Black Sea at the confluence of the Prut and Danube rivers. It was built in 2006, after Moldova swapped 430 meters of coastline to Ukraine for a section of a highway near the border village of Palanka. The port has an oil terminal with a 63,000 ton storage, two grain terminals, a terminal for other goods and a business park. In 2021, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development bought the Danube Logistics company, which operated the port. Now the EBRD is looking for a buyer.

The initiative to resell the port was criticized by other opposition parties, demanding its return to state ownership. For example, Vladimir Voronin, former president and head of the Communist Party of the Republic of Moldova, said that during the construction of the port of Chisinau, he faced opposition from Romania and Ukraine. According to him, these countries promised Moldova preferential terms for the delivery of goods through their ports if the republic refuses to build its own harbor.