KIEV, March 7 (RIA Novosti) - Ukraine offered some stinging criticism Tuesday of officials in Moldova's self-proclaimed republic of Transdnestr and in Russia for their reaction to the introduction of tougher customs regulations for imports from the breakaway region.
Foreign Ministry official spokesman Vasyl Filipchuk said, "We are surprised by the inadequate reaction of the Transdnestr side and by the Russian Foreign Ministry's statement of March 4 this year."
The new customs regulations, requiring all Transdnestr goods bound for Ukraine to bear an official Moldovan stamp, caused protests from Tiraspol and Moscow, which both regard the measure as an attempt to impose an economic blockade on the ex-Soviet state's separatist region.
"What Chisinau and Kiev are trying to present as [an effort to] put the border in order is actually yet another attempt to exert economic pressure on Tiraspol in order to force its political surrender on Transdnestr settlement issues," Russia's Foreign Ministry said in its March 4 statement. It also said that the new customs rules infringed on Transdnestr's foreign trade rights guaranteed in the 1997 memorandum on guidelines for normalizing the relations between Moldova and the self-styled republic.
Filipchuk said the new rules were intended to eliminate smuggling across the border with Ukraine and to bring Ukrainian laws up to the European Union's standards.
He said that the rules, which also simplify the procedure of registering Transdnestr-based businesses in Moldova's capital, Chisinau, were outlined in a joint communique adopted by the prime ministers of Ukraine and Moldova on December 30, 2005, and endorsed by the Ukrainian Cabinet in a March 1 decree.
According to Filipchuk, Ukraine wants to see the long-running conflict between Moldova and the breakaway region resolved as soon as possible, and will take consistent efforts to counter cross-border smuggling.
Ukraine is mediating the conflict, which erupted in the early 1990s, alongside Russia, the United States, the EU, and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the world's biggest regional security grouping.
Earlier on Tuesday, Moldovan Minister for Reintegration Vasile Sova also said Russia's assessment of the situation on the Ukrainian-Moldovan border was inadequate and accused Russian media of misrepresenting Ukraine's new customs rules, in force since March 3, as an economic blockade against Transdnestr.
Sova criticized Transdnestr's authorities for isolating the region from the global economy and credited Chisinau with facilitating foreign trade for local businessmen. "Transdnestr's economy must come out of the shadow and stop being hostage to perpetual suspicions and criminal repute. This is the pragmatic approach taken today both by Moldova, Ukraine and the European community."
Ukraine's newly-introduced customs regulations have created an impasse in the talks over Transdnestr's status, a bone of contention since the rebellious region, with a predominantly Russian population, broke away from Moldova in 1992, proclaiming itself a republic.
