Main negotiators of Chisinau, Tiraspol discuss entry ban in Ukraine of cars with Transdniestrian numbers

CHISINAU. Sept 3 (Interfax) – Vladislav Kulminski, deputy prime minister on reintegration of Moldova, and Vitaly Ignatiev, foreign minister of the self-proclaimed Transdniestrian Republic, have discussed the entry ban in Ukraine of cars with Transdniestrian numbers.

"The issue of road vehicles with neutral number plates was included in the agenda. That made it possible to reveal potential practical mechanisms for optimizing the work of registration points in Tiraspol and Ribnita to increase the number of beneficiaries of this state service provided by the Moldovan authorities," the press bureau on reintegration of the Moldovan government said on Friday.

"It was also agreed that the work of the industry working groups, especially experts on motor transport, will resume in the near future to find technical solutions to problems," the report said.

The sides also discussed vital issues and agreed that there is a need to look for solutions in the interests of residents of both banks of the Dniester.

"They also addressed other important issues such as the supply of coronavirus vaccine to residents of both banks of the Dniester, ensuring proper operation of schools that use Latin script in their instruction, removal of obstacles to free travel, etc.," the press service said.

In an earlier televised interview, Kulminski criticized the former Moldovan authorities that had signed an agreement introducing neutral number plates for cars with Transdniestrian registration. "This mechanism was only expected to show progress in the Transdniestrian settlement in a situation when Moldova was isolated internationally," the deputy prime minister said.

"Negotiations are now being conducted to allow at least mini buses and buses with Transdniestrian numbers to cross the Ukrainian border. The decision affects members of the general public, who have not replaced the number plates on their cars yet. According to our data, only 6,000 owners of road vehicles have changed Transdniestrian plates for neutral ones, the number of cars coming from the Transdniestrian region is some 20,000," Kulminski said.

Ukraine imposed an entry ban in the country on cars with Transdniestrian number plates on September 1. The protocol decision, signed by the main negotiators of Chisinau and Tiraspol on April 24, 2018, and the decrees of the government of Moldova envisage that cars from Transdniestria are only allowed to go abroad if they have "neutral" number plates that meet an established standard.

Moldova and Ukraine planned to ban cars with symbols of the self-proclaimed Transdniestrian Republic from going abroad from January 1, 2020. Kyiv later rescheduled the entry into force of this decision to April 1, 2021 at Chisinau’s request, and it was later rescheduled again to September 1, 2021. In the two years, only some 5,000 of the 110,000 cars present in Transdniestria underwent reregistration. For that reason, the Moldovan authorities in late August asked Ukraine to prolong the current regulations for crossing the Moldovan-Ukrainian border until January 10, 2022. However, Ukraine left the earlier decision unchanged.