Vehicles from Transnistrian region to be allowed to international traffic

Chisinau, 24 April /MOLDPRES/ - The vehicles from the Transnistrian region, which do not carry out commercial activities, will receive neutral registration plates and will be allowed to the international traffic as of 1 September 2018, under an agreement signed by representatives of Chisinau and Tiraspol in Bender today.   

According to the document, the transport means will have neutral registration plates, with registration numbers made up of three letters and three figures, as well as technical passport, in line with the requirements of the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic.  

The re-registration of the Transnistrian vehicles will be made on demand, at two offices in the Tiraspol and Rabnita cities, due to be set up with the assistance of the OSCE Mission in Moldova. A vehicle will not be able to have a neutral and a Transnistrian registration plate simultaneously. Therefore, the residents from the region ruling to preserve their Transnistrian registration plate will be able to travel with the concerned transport means only in Moldova.  

According to the OSCE Mission in Moldova, the document’s implementation will bring benefits to the lives of people on both banks of the Dniester/Nistru River and advance the Transdniestrian Settlement Process. Welcoming the signing of the agreement, the Head of the OSCE Mission to Moldova Ambassador Michael Scanlan commended the leadership and collaboration demonstrated by the Sides. “It is the constructive negotiation approach between the Sides and the personal engagement of the Moldovan and Transdniestrian leadership, which made this success possible. It is a success story for both Chisinau and Tiraspol,” he said. “When the joint implementation of the new mechanism begins this September, the trust between the Sides will deepen even further,” the official said.     

The so-called “licence plate agreement” together with two other outstanding commitments from the “5+2” Vienna Protocol and the five agreements signed between the Sides in November 2017 in Chisinau and Bender form the “package of eight”, the priorities identified by the Sides in the spring of 2017.   

Since the beginning of 2018, the Sides have implemented three out of five agreements signed in November 2017. These relate to the opening between the Sides of the Gura Bicului-Bychok bridge, initiating the apostilization of Transdniestrian university diplomas by Moldova and ensuring the functioning of the Moldova-administered Latin-script schools in Transdniestria. The signed agreements on restoring Moldova’s farmers’ access to their land in the Dubasari district as well as reintegrating the telecommunication markets are in the process of being implemented. 

(Reporter A. Ciobanu, editor M. Jantovan)