OREANDA-NEWS. March 17, 2011. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy of Moldova Valerii Lazar said a part of Moldovan experts are already in Moscow, working with their Russian colleagues at the issues of the forthcoming meeting.

Valerii Lazar said representatives of Moldova’s and Russia’s governments will examine the course of realization of the protocol decisions of the previous meeting of the commission held on February 5, 2010 in Chisinau. They will also bring up the issues concerning development of the trade and economic cooperation between the countries, cooperation in the fuel-energy and agro-industrial sectors, industry, transport, humanitarian assistance and health care.

The parties will also discuss development of the inter-regional cooperation and collaborate in the labor migration. The agreement on cooperation in industrial cooperation for 2011 is planned to be signed and extension of cooperation in the energy sector is planned to be discussed in details in Moscow. The possibility of longer periods of Moldovan citizens’ stay in Russia without registration will also be considered.

Valerii Lazar also said he would participate in the Economic forum dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the CIS creation in Moscow, and would speak, trying to convince colleagues from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan that Moldova’s European integration does not go contrary to its plans to expand the cooperation with the CIS countries and that the republic will provide proper conditions both for the Western and Eastern investors and partners.

According to the Moldovan Ministry of Economy’s data, in 2010, Russia again became Moldova’s major trade partner both in terms of export and import. The Moldovan exports to Russia in 2010 grew 41.1% to total USD 404.2 million. Imports of the Russian production to Moldova last year increased 56.6%, to USD 586.5 million. Russian’s share in the total Moldovan exports rose from 22.3% to 25.5%, that in imports – from 11.4% to 15.2%. The negative balance of trade of Moldova with Russia in 2010 was USD 137.9 million, up 2.1 times against 2009 (USD 88 million).