New joint meeting of political representatives, experts in road transport held

Chisinau, 21 September /MOLDPRES/- Following the 16 September discussions, a new joint working meeting between political representatives in the negotiation process for the Transnistrian settlement and experts in road transport was held yesterday at Tiraspol OSCE Mission to Moldova, with participation of representatives of mediators and observers in the 5 + 2 negotiation format, the Reintegration Policy Office has reported.

The conversation focused on vehicles in the Transnistrian region that intend to participate in international road traffic and potential measures that can be taken to document them.

During the talks, Chisinau stressed that the Protocol Decision of April 24, 2018 covers only vehicles that do not carry out commercial activities and does not include the obligation to extend the established mechanism to other categories of means of transport such as those engaged in commercial activities.

On commercial transport, it was noted that this is a complex one and must be properly addressed, being related to the process of approximation of taxes and customs duties on both banks of the Dniester, as well as respect the principles of fair competition, and this approach will need deep and long-term negotiations.

It was noted that the problem of commercial vehicles exists, and must be solved by humanitarian decisions, as an exception and aimed at solving the immediate problems faced by residents on both banks of the Dniester, and then return to solving other problems of current events on the negotiating agenda.

The Moldovan side reiterated the need for Tiraspol to present the lists with the appropriate details on the situation of the transport units concerned, so that the information provided can be verified by the competent national authorities, including through the Moldovan-Ukrainian bilateral cooperation channels. in order to identify viable solutions.

Distinct attention was paid to the situation of ambulances that ensure the transportation of people in a state of medical emergency and provide their access to national and international road traffic, including to make it possible to cross the Moldovan-Ukrainian state border, for this, too, being necessary specifying several relevant details from Tiraspol.

As regards driving licenses, the Moldovan side recalled the establishment of a simplified procedure for their exchange without additional examinations, about 400 units per month being exchanged, and in the region there are already 38 thousand holders of Moldovan permits.

Also, the experts from both banks discussed some issues in the activity of the registration points of the means of transport in the cities of Tiraspol and Rîbnița that were found following the joint visit of the specialized specialists carried out on October 7, 2020. More detailed consultations in this is to take place at the level of experts from the working groups for the development of road transport and road infrastructure which will be convened by the end of this week.

Chisinau pointed out willingness to make positive efforts to overcome the most pressing and humanitarian problems facing citizens on both banks of the Dniester.

Photo: Reintegration Policy Office