Tiraspol, 26 December. /Novosti Pridnestrovya/. Pridnestrovie is open to dialogue and has consistently advocated the preservation of all forms of the current negotiating process, although the "5+2" format does not always work regularly, President Krasnoselsky said in an interview with a Regnum journalist.
"As you know, the last meeting but one in this format was held in Berlin in the summer of 2016, and this year only thanks to Pridnestrovie's initiatives to solve the standing social issues and reach agreements with the Moldovan side on the opening of a bridge between the villages of Bychok and Gura Bicului, apostille verification of university diplomas, solution to the issues related to Romanian-language schools, telecommunication and farmland use did it become possible to organise a meeting in Vienna in November 2017," said the president.
The president underscored he did not see alternatives to the "5+2" format today.
"The format does work. Of course, it is not always so efficient, mobile and timely, but it works. That is why I would not change or correct anything," noted Krasnoselsky.
The president recalled that Pridnestrovie had been in a double blockade since March 2006. A new spiral of blockade came in 2014. And in May 2015, the Ukrainian government imposed a ban on the importation of all excisable goods to Pridnestrovie through its border checkpoints, including ethyl alcohol, tobacco and petroleum products. Besides, joint Moldo-Ukrainian control was introduced at the Pridnestrovian-Ukrainian border in 2017.
"Pridnestrovie continues to consider these actions as unilateral, as attempts to put our exports and imports, as well as the movement of our citizens across the Pridnestrovian-Ukrainian border, under full control. In terms of figures, only because of the joint post at the checkpoint Kuchuragn-Pervomaysk, we lose $38 million each year, or 6% of GDP," stated the president.
He recalled that about 150,000 ethnic Ukrainians, 80,000 Ukrainian citizens live in the PMR.
"What is Ukraine for us? This is a guarantor state in the Moldo-Pridnestrovian settlement, a mediator in the '5+2' format, an observer state to the Joint Control Commission. It was Ukraine that Pridnestrovians left for during the acutest phase of hostilities in 1992. And we are grateful to it for having received us and provided us with all possible assistance and cooperation," concluded the president.
