​PMR ECONOMIC AGENTS TO GET ACCESS TO EU FREE TRADE ZONE ON SPECIAL CONDITIONS

Economic agents of the unrecognized Transnistrian Moldovan republic (PMR) will get access to the free trade zone with the EU on special terms, which are currently being discussed by Chisinau and Brussels, said to Infotag sources in the Government, commenting on Transnistrian foreign office deputy head Dmitry Palamarchuk, who recently said that the EU will preserve for Transnistria the right on free trade with the EU.

“It is not about extending the regime of autonomous trade preferences (ATP), which has acted for Moldova earlier and was extended for Transnistrian entrepreneurs till 2016. Also we cannot talk yet about joining the Free Trade Zone, within which Moldovan economic agents are acting. However, Transnistrian entrepreneurs will get access to duty-free trade as an intermediate stage on the way to joining the Free Trade Zone”, said the Infotag interviewee.

According to him, this will mean that the region’s economic agents will trade with the EU according to the same rules as other entrepreneurs of the Republic of Moldova, though without fulfilling a set of requirements concerning modernization of production, certification, taking into account the production volumes.

“For fulfilling these conditions, PMR economic agents will be provided additional time”, the source said.

He added that all the procedures will be agreed by Chisinau and Brussels till the end of the year within the Association Council, which carries out monitoring of the EU-Moldova Association Agreement implementation, including the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement.

“This process includes representatives of Transnistria, who lost a lot of time and proved to be unready for trade with the EU on new terms, without trade preferences and without joining the free trade zone. No bilateral negotiations between Brussels and Tiraspol are being conducted, as the EU regards Transnistria as a constituent part of the Republic of Moldova and discussed the existing problems with Chisinau. In its turn, the Moldovan Government is doing everything possible to provide to Transnistrian enterprises optimal conditions for trading both with the EU and with the mainland Moldova”, said the source in the Government.

As Infotag has already reported, on Monday, Dmitry Palamarchuk said that after January 1, 2016, Transnistrian enterprises will preserve the right on duty-free trade with the European Union without any additional or special requirements from the EU.