During the Ukrainian-Moldovan political consultations, Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine Vasyl Bodnar and State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration of the Republic of Moldova Dumitru Sokolan discussed the status of implementation of the agreements reached during the visit of President of Moldova Maia Sandu to Kyiv in January 2021.
“The parties ‘synchronized watches’ regarding the nearest political contacts at the highest and high levels. Vasyl Bodnar informed about the preparations for the inaugural summit of the Crimean platform and the celebrations on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the restoration of Ukraine’s independence on August 23-24,” the statement on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website said on Thursday, March 25.
It is reported that considerable attention was paid to the implementation of cross-border infrastructure projects, primarily the construction of a bridge across the river Dniester in the area of Yampil-Koseuts settlements, the parties positively noted the progress in this case.
“Bodnar and Sokolan emphasized the importance of an early resumption of negotiations between the authorized authorities in order to resolve the entire range of issues related to the functioning of the Dniester hydroelectric complex, as well as to complete the process of demarcation of the Ukrainian-Moldovan border,” the Foreign Ministry said.
The parties checked their positions on expanding the legal framework between the two states in various fields.
A separate topic of the consultations was regional security issues, in particular the threats associated with the presence of Russian military units in the Transnistrian region of Moldova.
The Deputy Minister said that Ukraine is determined to continue supporting territorial integrity and sovereignty of Moldova within the internationally recognized borders, as well as to be an active participant in the negotiation process on the Transnistrian settlement.
“We regard the withdrawal of Russian troops from the territory of the Transnistrian region of Moldova as a matter of national and regional security,” the ministry’s press service quoted Bodnar as saying.
The parties discussed steps to strengthen bilateral trade and economic cooperation and implement energy projects.
In addition, it is reported that in context of humanitarian cooperation development, Bodnar asked to accelerate the ratification by the Moldovan side of the agreement signed on December 17, 2009 between Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova on cooperation in ensuring the rights of persons belonging to national minorities (Ukraine ratified it on October 5, 2010).
The parties discussed ways to deepen cooperation with the EU in context of implementation of the two countries’ course towards European integration. The diplomats also exchanged views on the efforts of the governments of Ukraine and Moldova to counter the spread of the COVID-19 epidemic.
Ukraine will finance the construction of a bridge across the Dniester River, which will become part of a new highway connecting Kyiv and Chisinau, said Ihor Zhovkva, Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine.
“One of the projects that we will start immediately will be the construction of a bridge across the Dniester River in the Yampil-Kosuets region, and a corresponding highway that will connect Kyiv and Chisinau. And not just connect, but will allow almost to get by car from Kyiv to Chisinau across the new bridge in five hours. Funding for the construction of this bridge will be carried out at the expense of the state budget of Ukraine. I note that the construction of the entire bridge is carried out at the expense of Ukraine,” said Zhovkva in an interview with TSN, published on Monday.
According to him, Ukravtodor is already working on the appropriate regulatory framework for this funding.
“Also, Ukraine will complete a part of the highway from Kyiv directly to the bridge. Most of it has already been built, restored or reconstructed … Moldova, for its part, will complete its own part of this highway. And, again, they have already built a part of this road. Therefore, this is an absolutely realistic project with realistic financing. The only thing left to do is to complete it. The Ukrainian and Moldovan sides have received the corresponding instructions from the two presidents,” Zhovkva said
Ukraine is a strategic partner for the Republic of Moldova, and maintaining constant and pragmatic cooperation with Ukraine is an important task for Moldova, said Moldovan President Maia Sandu during her official visit to Ukraine.
“I am glad to be in Kyiv as President to restore friendship between our countries at the highest level. In recent years, the Moldovan-Ukrainian dialogue at the level of heads of state has been virtually suspended. I confirm that Ukraine is a strategic partner for the Republic of Moldova, and maintaining constant and pragmatic cooperation with Ukraine is an important task for the Republic of Moldova and for the President,” Maia Sandu said at a press conference following talks with President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv on Tuesday.
She stressed that during today’s talks, the parties had agreed to bring relations between the two countries to another level – strategic partnership.
“Today we are taking an important step towards the establishment of these strategic relations. We decided to create the Council of Presidents of the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine as a new permanent format of cooperation at a high level,” Sandu said.
According to the Moldovan President, this mechanism of constant interaction will help in the development of policies and strategies, and will contribute to solving problems on the bilateral agenda, as well as to monitor the implementation of the agreed agreements.
“During the meeting, we reaffirmed our joint desire to intensify the implementation of the European integration program by our countries. This path is a strategic option for the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine, and a reliable way of developing a functional state with a modern market economy in the interests of citizens,” she stressed.
Sandu added that the heads of state also spoke in favor of strengthening the Moldovan-Ukrainian partnership with the Eastern Partnership, in particular within the framework of the summit of this initiative, which will be held this year.
“We paid special attention to the issues of Moldovan-Ukrainian relations, which for a long time remained unresolved. We agreed to intensify efforts and identify mutually beneficial solutions to existing problems. In this context, we agreed to resume dialogue through the specialized institutions of our countries, including the continuation of the activities of working groups and bilateral sectoral commissions on current issues,” she explained.
Sandu noted that the presidents discussed the need to find solutions in the interests of citizens of both countries in such key areas as ensuring security on the joint state border, ensuring environmental protection, cooperation in the energy sector, regulation in accordance with international law and in the interests of both countries related to the mutual recognition of property rights, the constant and balanced development of bilateral trade, the liberalization of international transport between countries and the problems associated with the operation of the Dniester hydropower complex.
“Taking into account that the waters of the Dniester River provide life to more than 7 million people who live in the basin of this river both in the Republic of Moldova and in Ukraine, it is very important to continue the dialogue between our countries to ensure the protection and sustainable use of the Dniester River, so that its water serve both our generation and future generations,” the head of state believes.
She and Zelensky also agreed to expedite the search for a sustainable solution to ensure mutual travel based on ID cards, which would benefit the citizens of both countries, she said.
Sandu noted that one of the projects discussed during the meeting concerns the development of road infrastructure on the Chisinau-Soroca-Yampil-Kyiv highway.
“This will create an automobile transport corridor that will reduce trip time between Chisinau and Kyiv, and may become the fastest route from the central region of Ukraine to the countries of Central and South-Eastern Europe,” she said.
The President of Moldova started her speech in Ukrainian. She also thanked Zelensky for the invitation to make this visit.
Ukraine’s neighboring countries, with the exception of Moldova, have entered the green zone for the spread of COVID-19, according to data published on the website of the Ministry of Health as of September 11.
The “red” zone includes countries with an incidence rate per 100,000 population over the past 14 days higher than in Ukraine (88.1). In total, there are as many as 47 countries.
The “red” zone, as before, includes Moldova (152.4 per 100,000). Romania moved from the “red” to the “green” zone (85.5 per 100,000).
France, Spain, Montenegro, U. S., Israel are also among the countries of the “red” zone.
The countries of the “green” zone include, in particular, India, Czech Republic, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, Sweden, Great Britain, Slovenia, Turkey, Egypt, Georgia, Finland, Switzerland, Germany, Bulgaria and Greece.
The closest neighbors of Ukraine, included in the green zone, are Belarus (25.7 per 100,000), Poland (21.5 per 100,000), Slovakia (24.8 per 100,000), Hungary (45.3 per 100,000), and the Russian Federation (44.5 per 100,000).
The European Investment Bank (EIB) will provide Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova with EUR 55 million through ProCredit Bank in the respective countries to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) within mitigating the effects of the economic shock, the EIB’s website reports.
“As part of the overall response to COVID-19, the operation will support the financial intermediaries with temporary emergency measures to facilitate the provision of liquidity to SMEs and midcaps and thereby contribute to mitigating the impact of the economic shock,” the report says.
ProCredit Bank in Ukraine was founded in 2001. At the beginning of 2020, its sole shareholder was ProCredit Holding (100% of the shares).
According to the National Bank of Ukraine, as of May 1, 2020 ProCredit Bank ranked 14th among 75 banks operating in the country in terms of total assets (UAH 25.646 billion).
The foreign ministers of Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova have addressed the European Union together regarding the importance of support for the Eastern Partnership, according to the press service of the Foreign Ministry of Ukraine.
“On the margins of the Munich Security Conference the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova have signed a joint letter to the Members of the European Commission regarding importance of relevant financial support for the Eastern Partnership in the next EU Multiannual Financial Framework for 2021-2027 that is currently being shaped by the EU institutions,” reads the statement.
The ministers called on the EU to take into account within its strategic budgetary planning for the next seven years the scale and ambitions of the reforms, which are being implemented and planned by Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova in the process of their European integration.
“The joint address of the Ministers is another sign of unity of Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova in their approaches to future development of the Eastern Partnership, based on the differentiation principle, as well as to the idea of enhanced dialogue in the EU+3 Associated Partners format,” reads the statement.
