Commenting on the refusal to sign a Transnistrian settlement memorandum worked out with Russia’s participation, the Moldovan leader said that “huge work was done” while completing this document; there were 18 variants of the memorandum. According to him, in the last minute new wordings emerged, introduced by the Transnistrian party, that were unacceptable for Chisinau. “We could not go for it, to build a house on sand, deceit, mistrust. In this event the federative state we are creating would have no future,” Mr. Voronin stressed.

He pointed out that currently Moldovan authorities were preparing their own plan for settling the Transnistrian conflict, which would be based on the memorandum Russia suggested. “We are working on it. This plan is to be a little improved for it to be suitable for all parties and for eliminating all catches and double interpretations,” the Moldovan president stated.

The Moldovan leader added that he was for the EU’s involvement in solving the Transnistrian problem. He expressed confidence that along with the OSCE, Russia and Ukraine, the EU would participate “in this complicated process and will do good”.

As for economic cooperation, Mr. Voronin reported that the Russian market had been the major sales market for Moldovan products. The republic is not going to give up its positions there. The Moldovan president noted that his country exported 65 percent of its wines to Russia, and “the republic cannot help but take this into account”. “The market is very conservative, it cannot be won just like that,” the Moldovan leader emphasized. According to him, for enhancing one’s positions on the market a great deal of time and resources are required. This is why Moldova is for preserving its traditional sales markets.

At the same time, Moldova’s membership in the WTO has opened new niches for the country, which enabled it to increase imports of Moldovan goods to the EU by 29 percent, while imports to the CIS gained only 4 percent in the same period, Mr. Voronin said.