Activity of the President on December 20, 2005 – January 15, 2006

Decrees

The president of Moldova signed on December 22, 2005 a decree on constitution of the commission for the drafting of the national security concept of Moldova and appointed himself to head it. The commission also includes representatives of the Parliament and Government, scientific institutions and civil society. The national security concept will be drafted by March 1, 2006 and the Parliament is to approve it later.

Also, the chief of state has created a national commission to draft the foreign policy concept of Moldova, headed by Deputy Premier Andrei Stratan, foreign and European integration minister. The commission that must draft the concept by March 1, 2006 includes representatives of the Government, Parliament and the same scientific institutions, education and civil society institutions that must draft the national security concept.

Sittings. Statements

Annual news conference

The president of Moldova summarised the key events at a news conference on activity in 2005 and commented on some problems that captured the attention of national and international opinion. According to Vladimir Voronin, the signing of the Moldova-European Union Action Plan in February was the key event of 2005, which outlined a certain vector for all further processes that took place in our country: parliamentary elections; creation of a “new majority of pro-European parties in the legislative body”; active cooperation between power and opposition; “new principle” tackling of tasks related to settlement of the Transnistrian conflict.

Voronin said that the authorities will continue the process of “debureaucratisation and liberalisation of economy,” combat of corruption and shadow economy, and the essential elements for this purpose are: public administration reform (reduction of state administration and reduction of competences of functionaries, “moving of all ministries in one building”); implementation of the second stage of the “guillotine law” by extending it on documents of local authorities; promotion of a law on amnesty of capital of businesses; modernisation of functions of the Centre for the Struggle Against Economic Crimes and Corruption, so that this body “watch the liberal principles of Moldovan economy” and supervise the activity of state functionaries in the area.

The main accomplishments of the foreign policy plan include the “cardinal improvement” of relations with Moldova and Ukraine, hope that these relations will develop and Ukraine will provide a plenary support to Moldova for settlement of the Transnistrian conflict and the basic treaty and border treaty will be signed with Romania. Speaking about relation with the Russian Federation, Voronin said that he hopes to eliminate the “deficit of sincerity and to overpass the misinformation barrier, which certain structures have artificially raised.”

Appreciation of Government’s activity

Participating in the final sitting of the cabinet of minister in 2005, the chief of state has positively appreciated the activity of the executive, saying that the most ambitious goals have been reached. Vladimir Voronin indicated among these goals:

progresses related to reintegration of the country (international monitoring of the Moldovan-Ukrainian border, enlargement of the negotiation format, tackling of the Transnistrian problem at important international rostrums);
accomplishments related to European integration (implementation of the Moldova-E.U. Action Plan; Moldova’s inclusion in the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP+) and others);
economic progresses (rise of GDP by 8.6 percent; positive results of implementation of health insurance, growth of population’s incomes);
accomplishment of a political consensus within Parliament, which contributes to the efficient cooperation between presidency, legislative and executive.

Partial solutions to the natural gas supply problem

The chief of state convoked a new sitting on energy security of the country on January 15, 2006, with the participation of speaker, prime minister and representatives of the Government. In particular, Vladimir Voronin outlined the need of an acceptable solution to the natural gas supply to Moldova “based on two positions: acceptable price and transparency of the proper gas providing scheme.” The Moldovan delegation has left for Moscow the next day after the sitting and reached an agreement with Gazprom. Thus, Moldova will receive Russian natural gas in exchange for 110 dollars per 1,000 cubic metres in the first trimester of 2006, in line with a temporary understanding. Commenting on this situation, Vladimir Voronin highlighted the importance to maintain some direct contractual relations with Gazprom, adding that “it is right to buy natural gas from producers alone.”

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