President Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon, Vladimir Nikolayevich [Voronin], I am very happy to see you.
According to the latest statistics, our relations are developing really very well overall, especially our economic relations. Our bilateral trade has increased by 99 percent since 2005 and now comes to almost $1 billion.
As you know, we have taken the first mutual steps towards removing obstacles to our cooperation in some sectors, in particular in the agriculture sector, with regards to plant and forest products. The Russian Government, I hope you know, has sent out the relevant instructions regarding imports of Moldovan wine to Russia.
I think that we have plenty to discuss regarding these and other issues, including political matters such as settlement in Trans-Dniester. I am therefore very pleased to see you and I wish you welcome.
President of Moldova Vladimir Voronin: Thank you for this opportunity to discuss the current situation and the outlook for our bilateral relations. We in Moldova also consider our relations to be of a very high level.
Among the results you noted, I would like to add that we have managed to resolve the gas supply problem that has been a source of tension in past years by agreeing to a longer-term model for our relations in this area. We have now reached stable agreements for a five-year period and payments are being made according to plan. We have complete agreement on this matter and work is proceeding smoothly.
Over this last year we have indeed succeeded in overcoming practically all of the obstacles that we still faced two years ago. We need to discuss a number of political issues linked to the Trans-Dniester situation, and we need to set new objectives and new goals for our bilateral relations.