CHISINAU, June 21. /TASS/. Moldova is not ready to withdraw from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), a hot button issue among the country’s politicians, Moldovan Minister of Agriculture and Food Industry Vladimir Bolea said in an interview with the Jurnal TV channel when asked about the expected losses.

"Many [will suffer]: cherry producers, plum producers. <...> We have 14 agreements in agriculture within the CIS. Preliminarily, we need to conclude bilateral agreements with the CIS member countries where we export our goods to," the minister said.

He cited Ukraine as an example. There the government, like in Chisinau, has proclaimed a course of rapprochement with the EU, but has not abandoned the CIS yet. "Today we even work with Ukraine on the basis of the CIS agreements. We have no other export agreements," Bolea specified.

"Every decision politicians make, no matter how nice it may seem, must take people and business into account. <...> What should we do with thousands of independent farmers, with people who bring cherries to Russia? Let's first create some new opportunities for them. If something is not needed, it will die out on its own," he believes. According to the minister, in order to reorient supplies to the EU, Moldovan farmers will need millions of euros of investment in fruit calibration and cooling.

Earlier, the Moldovan government announced plans to denounce 119 out of 282 agreements signed within the CIS. Foreign Minister Mihai Popsoi said that Chisinau did not intend to denounce any important agreements for the country. Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called Chisinau's policy duplicitous, noting that, having declared their desire to leave the CIS, the Moldovan authorities are in no hurry to give up the socio-economic advantages of participation in the Commonwealth.

Moldova's attitude towards the CIS began to change after Maia Sandu won the presidential election in 2020, proclaiming a course of integration with the EU and refusing to participate in CIS summits.