Moldova to start issuing biometric passports en masse in 2011
The Moldovan Information Technologies and Communication Ministry will be ready to issue biometric passports en masse starting January 2011, the Moldova One public television reported on 23 February.
Information Technologies and Communication Minister Alexandru Oleinic said biometric passports were one of the mandatory conditions for the liberalization of the visa regime with the EU.
"Liberalization of the visa regime with the EU provides for a large number of actions aimed at introducing biometric passports. The EU has given Moldova a 2m-euro grant to purchase all the necessary equipment. The deadline for replacing foreign passports with biometric ones is to be agreed with the EU," Moldova One showed Oleinic as saying.
Moldova issued the first biometric passports in January 2008.
The Infotag news agency has reported that because of a rather high cost of biometric passports - 1,250 lei (about 100 dollars) - so far only 1,300 Moldovan citizens have received them. The Moldovan authorities hope that the EU grant will allow them to reduce the cost of biometric passports by 30 per cent and increase production fivefold, Infotag added.
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