Tiraspol, September 16. /Novosti Pridnestrovya/. Today, at the office of the OSCE Mission in Chisinau, a meeting was held between the political representatives of the PMR and the RM, Vitaly Ignatiev and Vladislav Kulminsky, dedicated to the problem of banning vehicles with Pridnestrovian license plates from entering Ukraine. The meeting was attended by representatives of expert (working) groups on the development of transport and road facilities, as well as mediators and observers in the negotiation process, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pridnestrovie reports.
The parties discussed the current crisis situation in detail. It was noted, in particular, that Pridnestrovian companies cannot carry out regular passenger routes to Ukraine and transit through Ukraine that day. Delivery of goods to the PMR from Ukraine by small-sized freight transport also became impossible. In addition, in the current conditions, the road is also closed for the Pridnestrovian fire-and-rescue vehicles, which urgently need to deliver patients to hospitals in Ukraine and Russia.
At the same time, now there is no mechanism for issuing neutral license plates for cargo and passenger transport from the PMR. As for private car owners in Pridnestrovie, only about 5% of them received neutral license plates at the moment.
The objectivity of the problems associated with the registration of Pridnestrovian vehicles is also recognized by the Moldovan side today.
With that in mind, as well as the ongoing dialogue on the car license plates problem, the Head of the PMR Foreign Ministry Vitaly Ignatiev suggested that Vladislav Kulminsky jointly appeal to Ukraine so that it reconsider its position and suspend or cancel the ban introduced from September 1.
"At the same time, the parties recognized the improper operation of the vehicle registration points (VRP) due to the presence of a wide range of problems that have not been resolved for a long period of time," the Pridnestrovian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
However, today, the Moldovan side refused to support the idea of a joint appeal to Ukraine.
At the meeting, Vitaly Ignatiev also recalled the initiative sent by Pridnestrovie back in October 2019 regarding the registration of freight and passenger transport from the PMR in the VRP. In response, the representatives of Moldova stated that they were not ready to start working on that issue.
In addition, the meeting discussed the problem of driving licenses. The Pridnestrovian side emphasized the undoubted relationship of this issue with the process of border crossing and PMR vehicles` participation in international road traffic.
The representatives of Pridnestrovie drew attention to the fact that the requirements of the Republic of Moldova Border Police on the availability of Moldovan driving licenses for car owners with neutral license plates fundamentally contradict the provisions of the Protocol Decision of April 24, 2018, the Pridnestrovian Foreign Ministry said.
Along with this, the parties, with the participation of specialized specialists, considered some of the issues fixed in the final protocol of the visit to the VRP dated October 7, 2020. Attention was drawn here to the fact that Moldova does not fulfill the agreements reached this spring on the re-registration of the inherited vehicles.
The next meeting in the same format will take place on Monday, September 20, at the office of the OSCE Mission in Tiraspol.
