Moldovan officials intend to "cross the Prut" with the Unirii (Union) Motorway running from Targu Mures to Iasi in Romania and on to Ungheni in Moldova, which they want to further extend to reach Chisinau, Moldova's capital city. In this sense a bridge in Ungheni is to be built under a key joint project with Romania, Moldova's Minister of Economy and Infrastructure Chiril Gaburici told AGERPRES in a recent interview.

He spoke about the bilateral projects established at a joint meeting of the governments of Romania and Moldova held in Bucharest last week, including the construction of a gauge for the Moldovan railways, cancelling phone roaming charges, which could take place in the first half of 2019, as well as tourism co-operation.

The minister also said that by the end of 2019 the Iasi-Ungheni pipeline could become operational so that it could start pumping out gas from Romania.

AGERPRES: Last week there was a joint meeting of the governments of Romania and the Republic of Moldova. What were the main projects and collaborative directions established at that meeting?

Chiril Gaburici: First of all, I would like to mention the Joint Committee's meeting of November 14-15, 2018, where a lot of work was done, and colleagues from both sides prepared everything for this joint government meeting. There are a few large projects, I would call grandiose, that will reflect the co-operation and involvement of both countries, both Moldova and Romania.

Firstly, we are talking about Moldova's railways and the missing European track gauge in the Republic of Moldova, and we initiated a project that would unite the Republic of Moldova with Romania or with Europe. So, building a track gauge would be one of the projects.

We discussed several bridges that would unite the Republic of Moldova and Romania, and one of them is the bridge in the Ungheni region, which is to link together the Targu Mures-Neamt-Iasi-Ungheni motorway. This is a very, very large infrastructure project.

There is also the continuation of repairs of kindergartens. Repair of several cultural facilities was also discussed. We had discussions about streamlining border crossing; we also discussed tourism. In Romania, there are very many tourist trails and we want to come with a few trails of our that we want to add to the package of tourist routes that are in Romania. And many, many other projects were discussed.

AGERPRES: Coming back to the track gauge project. Where does funding come from? Will Romania also have a contribution to this?

Chiril Gaburici: It is a very expensive project, a very big project, and we, both countries, will try to make use of grants and funding, which is going to happen in the period immediately ahead. Now we have work to do, we have to get all the necessary materials ready. This is an idea that has been backed up by both parties and it is important that we do it. We all know what happens when you go by train to Iasi or to Bucharest. You have to stay at the border for a good amount of time because there is a different gauge ahead of the train. We will work; we will prepare all the materials so we can apply for grants and funding.

AGERPRES: In February, a national election will be held in Moldova. Can these projects no longer happen if there is a change?

Chiril Gaburici: No. They are very important projects to every Moldovan citizen and such projects must have continuity.

AGERPRES: At the joint government meeting you also discussed the cancellation of roaming charges. Since when might this happen?

Chiril Gaburici: We also signed a declaration between both parties. I want to tell you that we thought we could apply local roaming charges as early as this year, except that there were some additional discussions between Romanian officials and communications operators and it took us some time to solve these additional questions and discussions, and reach a common denominator that could satisfy all the players and so we can implement it. I want to let you know that on December 1 we will have free calls between Moldova and Romania. This will be a first test with operators on this topic. All operators are available. Now the agencies are going to document all this initiative. But let me get back to your question about when this may happen ... We want in the first half of 2019 to have these preferential charges, or, as we call them in the ministry, local call charges for citizens of the Republic of Moldova in Romania and vice versa, and Romanians in the Republic of Moldova can make calls at their local charges.

AGERPRES: As far as tourism is concerned, talks were been conducted at the Spring Travel Show in Chisinau regarding the 'Trail of Voivode Stefan cel Mare" (Stephen the Great) and "The Wine Road." Are there any other projects under consideration?

Chiril Gaburici: First of all, these two projects, these two trails, are quite important routes. Little by little, we are developing such packages for tourists, because we did not have them in this form. We, both countries, will try to capitalise on our being neighbours and on the fact that there are some very good offers of us for those who are already buying tourist packages in Romania and vice versa. When tourists come to us, we will present and promote the tourist routes in Romania.

There was another thing discussed: this summer I had a meeting with my Romanian colleagues from the Ministry of Tourism. They unveiled to us one of the projects to be conducted next year. It is a so called 'digital map of tourist attractions.' And we want our place on the Romanian digital tourist map. Let the tourist digital map of the Republic of Moldova be added to it, with our places, our tourist attractions, our description, etc. We want to do it together and we were promised that our sub-project will be included in the project of our colleagues in Romania, so that we will also have a digital map for all who visit us and for all tourists visiting Romania.

AGERPRES: Romania and the Republic of Moldova have joint energy projects as well, such as the Iasi-Ungheni gas pipeline. When do you expect gas imports from Romania will start?

Chiril Gaburici: We have the contract signed under an agreement and based on the promises and a time plan, the time frame for the works of our colleagues at Transgaz. By the end of 2019, the Iasi-Ungheni pipeline should become operational, functional, so that we may import gas from Romania.

AGERPRES: You are importing gas from Russia. You said at some point that you want to give up on this dependence ...

Chiril Gaburici: We are importing virtually everything. I have not said in any interview that we would refuse [gas from Russia]. I said we'd choose the best offer. And with new alternatives we will be able to stay at the table and negotiate a very good price and conditions for us, for the Republic of Moldova, so that the ultimate beneficiary will be the citizens of the Republic of Moldova who pay the bill every month.

AGERPRES: In Romania, the construction of the Union Motorway (Targu Mures-Iasi-Ungheni) has been approved. Could this be extended to include Chisinau?

Chiril Gaburici: We want this motorway to cross the Prut. And I mentioned this bridge, which is one of the key projects in the relationship with my colleagues and partners in Romania, and that bridge is to be connected with a motorway that will link Chisinau to Iasi and Targu Mures.

AGERPRES: How many Romanian companies are there in Moldova?

Chiril Gaburici: There are more than 1,700 Romanian companies registered in the Republic of Moldova and Romania is Moldova's second largest external investor.

AGERPRES: What can you say about bilateral trade?

Chiril Gaburici: Our business relationship is growing. We have discovered the Romanian market and we have a very big opening. A report coming from the Ministry of Economy shows that 69 percent of exports go to the European Union. Romania ranks 1st among the EU destinations.

AGERPRES: At what stage is the consolidation of Moldova's banking system after the "theft of a billion" scandal?

Chiril Gaburici: I can tell you in general terms that the banking system has recovered. A lot of work has been done. And proof is the involvement of foreign investors in the banking system. We have Banca Transilvania operating in the Republic of Moldova, we have the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development operating in the Republic of Moldova, we also have discussions with other players in the field, other international banks that show interest in the Moldovan banking system. No bank at this level will enter a rotten system that does not work. Now that they see that things are standing in their right place, that rules are very clear and respected, they show interest.

AGERPRES: These days the Moldova Business Week forum is held in Chisinau. What are the priority areas where you want to attract investment?

Chiril Gaburici: We are very open. We are ready to look at various possibilities and opportunities, but we have some priority segments. It is the agrarian segment, the processing of agricultural produce, and the IT field, the energy system and, why not, we see great potential in processing, or production if we are talking about industry, so that later on we can go to markets outside the Republic of Moldova. We, being a small country, have succeeded in concluding free trade agreements with many countries, which gives all those who produce something in the Republic of Moldova the opportunity to have access to an extraordinary high number of potential customers. And we are talking about the countries of the European Union, about the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States, we are talking about Turkey and we are now in negotiations with China.

AGERPRES: What are your fortes to attract investors?

Chiril Gaburici: The tax policy of the Republic of Moldova compared with other countries in the region, geographical location. We are very well placed and that serves us as an asset. Another argument is the free trade agreements and the presence of the countries where we could export products manufactured in the Republic of Moldova. AGERPRES (RO - author: Nicoleta Gherasi, editor: Mariana Nica; EN - author: Corneliu-Aurelian Colceriu, editor: Rodica State)