OREANDA-NEWS. April 26, 2010. This was announced by the Deputy Minister of Economy Octavian Calmic during the round table “Foreign trade and removal of pressure in the business community” held in the Ministry of Economy on Friday. According to him, a higher pace of export growth to CIS was made possible due to establishment of good relations with CIS partners, especially Russia.

he discussions held the last and this year had a positive impact on foreign trade between the two countries. Deliveries of alcoholic beverages, fruits, vegetables and other agro-food products have increased. Thus, according to the National Bureau of Statistics, the Moldovan exports to CIS countries in January-February 2010 increased by 28,5% compared to the same period of the last year, totaling USD70 million. Octavian Calmic noted that in I quarter of 2010 total exports from Moldova grew by 17%, and expressed hope that this trend will continue in the current year. He stressed that trade preferences have had positive results, emphasizing special interest in the grain exports from Moldova through the Giurgiulesti port.

He also noted export of animals through Giurgiulesti port, which is a new element in the foreign trade of Moldova. The deputy minister has added that the Ministry of Economy has sufficiently facilitated export procedures: within a few hours you can get all necessary documentation. At the same time, according to Octavian Calmic, export potential has not been fully used due to many restrictions on the local products and systematic problems with their quality. Speaking of imports, the Deputy Minister noted that in the first quarter of this year, the volume of imports remained almost at the level of 2009.

One of the main reasons for this situation is non-resumed import of equipment, which has traditionally accounted for a significant share in the total imports. Octavian Calmic also noted that the most sensitive issue in the foreign trade is import of agro-food products. In the past year due to devaluation of hryvna, prices of the Ukrainian agro-food products were lower than in Moldova, which led to a huge inflow of the Ukrainian imports to our country.

"To date, imports are subject to stricter monitoring on behalf of the customs authorities, as well as authorities for market supervision"-said the deputy minister. He noted that currently the Ministry of Economy examines restrictions faced by economic agents to search the optimal solutions.