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Igor Dodon arrived in Moscow at the invitation of the Delovaya Rossiya national public organisation to attend the business forum Russia–Moldova: New Growth Points.

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Beginning of meeting with President of the Republic of Moldova Igor Dodon

President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Mr Dodon, friends,

We are happy to welcome you to Moscow. In early April, we will mark 25 years of Russian-Moldovan diplomatic relations.

We had a meeting only recently, two months ago. Now we have an opportunity to discuss the status of our bilateral relations and, in particular, our economic cooperation.

I know that you have repeatedly raised the issue of Moldovans working in Russia and dealing with certain problems. Russian government agencies have taken necessary measures. We will keep working on resolving this issue completely. In general, I think we are gradually moving towards stronger relations.

There is a very important and sensitive issue concerning Transnistria. We will cover this as well.

President of Moldova Igor Dodon: Mr Putin, colleagues,

First of all, I am very pleased that two months after our first official meeting (we met precisely two months ago), we have an opportunity to talk and look at the results: significant results have been achieved since our January 17 meeting in terms of exports and migrant workers, and we have been proactive in starting a dialogue on the Transnistrian issue.

Indeed, this year marks 25 years of bilateral diplomatic relations, but the history of our relations and friendship goes back many centuries. Over the past 25 years of modern history, we saw different periods. There have been ups and downs.

Notably, today we held a Delovaya Rossiya forum which brought together about 100 business people from Moldova and Russia. Everyone noted that we are almost past the bad phase of our relations that lasted from 2009 to 2016. We are turning over a new page. This can be felt by ordinary citizens. It is felt by Moldovans – both by those who live in our country and those who are here. It is also felt by businesses. I am sure you have been informed that we have had five more companies gain access to the Russian market.

Vladimir Putin: Yes, I am aware of that.

Igor Dodon: By the way, the famous Cricova winery is back on the Russian market, and I brought you a present. You have owned a collection of wines at Cricova since 2002–2003, so I brought you a few dozen bottles from your personal collection.

Vladimir Putin: I received them.

Igor Dodon: So, the dynamics look good. Of course, it would be nice if we could discuss exports, migrant workers, Transnistria, and the unfortunate case of a diplomatic demarche by our government and our parliament last week.

You are aware of my position: we are categorically opposed to such demarches, because current technical issues must be addressed rather than elevated to the political level.

I hope that today we will have an opportunity to discuss these issues in greater detail.

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