2024-02-29 03:32:07
The Ambassador of the Republic of Moldova in Bucharest Victor Kirila announced today that Romania has become the first trade partner of the neighboring country, significantly ahead of the Russian Federation and other partner countries, Agerpress reported.
Kirila also noted that Romania is also the largest foreign investor in Moldova with over 400 million euros of investments.
“The Republic of Moldova signed the association agreement with the EU in 2014. It also signed a comprehensive free trade agreement with the EU. Since then, in a period of 10 years, our trade with Romania has doubled – from 1 billion euros to 3 billion euros ( …) Romania became today the first trade partner of the Republic of Moldova, ahead of the Russian Federation and other partner countries of the Republic of Moldova by a lot, really a lot,” the ambassador said at an event dedicated to the opportunities for trade and economic cooperation between the two countries.
He noted that Romania has invested over 400 million euros in the Republic of Moldova, and Moldovan investments in Romania have exceeded 80 million euros.
“Romania is also the first “foreign” investor in the Republic of Moldova. More than 400 million euros have been invested in the Republic of Moldova by companies, private investors from Romania, but this also happens in the opposite direction. So far, according to official data, investors from the Republic of Moldova have invested over 80 million euros. If we take into account the fact that many citizens of Moldova register their companies and activities here in Romania, based on the Romanian passport, we can say that this amount is much larger,” the ambassador noted.
According to him, this economic integration of the two countries has accelerated a lot even in the context of the war in Ukraine, “in these by no means easy regional conditions”, which is also visible in the energy sector, writes BTA. Kirila noted that the Romanian gas transmission company Transgaz administers the Iași-Ungeni-Chisinau gas pipeline, as well as the gas transmission networks that supply cities and villages in the Republic of Moldova, recalling that until last fall these networks were administered by the Moldova-Gas company, a subsidiary of Russia’s Gazprom.