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It is a great honor for me to address the readers of this anniversary report on the activity of the Eurasian Patent Organization and I most heartily congratulate the staff of the Eurasian Patent Office with having come up with an excellent idea to celebrate the five year anniversary since the founding of this respected organization to which the Republic of Moldova is a party. We are grateful for the invitation to present ourselves on the pages of this important publication and would like to use this opportunity to speak about the young state of the Republic of Moldova and its Agency of Industrial Property Protection (AGEPI).
Despite the fact that our country announced her independence recently, on August 27, 1991, the history of our people started a thousand years ago. I want to mention just a few names of people who exemplify the creative potential of our nation. I want to mention outstanding personalities who are dear not only to us, but to the other nations among whom they worked. Perhaps the best known name among these famous people is that of Petr Movila, who established the very first Eastern European Academy in the City of Kiev. In that regard a Russian historian once remarked that it is hard to say whose work - that of Petr Movila or Peter the Great - contributed more to the integration of Russia into the European system. And when Peter the First was considering the establishment of the Saint-Petersburg Academy, his chief advisor was Moldavian nobleman Dimitri Kantemir, at that time a member of the Berlin Academy. In the words of V. Belinsky, the son of Dimitri Kantemir Antiokh Kantemir was the first Russian writer in the modern sense of the word. Among these people we should also mention the famous composer Sergei Rakhmaninov, whose family tree traces back to the family of Stephan the Great.
Several names from the modern period need to be mentioned as well. Academy member Ion Bostan, Rector of the Kishinev Polytechnical University, the author of a scientific manual on machine building titled "Precision planetary gears", of 5 textbooks and monographs and of 150 research articles, the owner of 122 invention patents, the participant of 30 international exhibitions, the winner of 8 gold medals including the WIPO gold medal. He closely collaborates with Russian scientific circles. And the same can be said of many other scientists and inventors from Moldova.
Today, when Western Europe shows intense interest in our country, the Republic of Moldova responds positively to the proposals it receives, at the same time realizing the importance of maintaining its traditional connections with the former USSR states. Such policies are dictated by political, economic, social, spiritual and other considerations taken on a global scale.
Our country is located in the south-east of Europe, in the basin of the Danube, a river that unites nearly all countries of the continent into one economic zone. At the same time we are at the crossroads of some important commercial, energetic, scientific and cultural Eurasian routes. With an area of 33.7 thousand square kilometers and a population of over 4 million, the Republic of Moldova has a variety of geographic zones: forests, hills and steppes located between two rivers, the Dniester and the Prut. With its fertile soil for ecologically clean agriculture, a gentle climate, and remarkably good conditions for tourism - factors which have for a long time enhanced this land's reputation as a paradise - the Republic has every possibility to become an international health and recreation resort.
In that context environmental protection and the effort to match the European Union standards deserve a special mentioning. The priority directions are the protection of lakes and rivers, supplying quality drinking water to the population, soil and forest protection, blocking of pollution sources, and creation of an exemplary system of environmental protection management.
Moldavians treat citizens of other ethnic origins with respect and understand the importance of preserving and developing both their own traditions and the spiritual riches of other nations. Our diversity of traditions is a special attraction to those interested in ethnic and folk values.
Everything that the civilized world has it its possession and use was at some point invented. Inventive activity determines the nation's level of development. At the same time, for as long as we have inventions, the issues of authorship and of protecting the authors' rights have been relevant ones. These objectives cannot be accomplished without national institutions that protect authors' rights, their collaboration with similar institutions of other countries, and the establishment of regional and international organizations in that field.
The creation of the State Agency of the Industrial Property Protection of the Republic of Moldova (AGEPI) parallels the formation and strengthening of our statehood and the beginning of radical social and economic reforms. This is the case when industrial property protection becomes a prerequisite of the economic security of the country, expansion of trade with new and traditional partners, and stimulation of inventive and entrepreneurial activity. The joining of the Republic of Moldova to the Organization in 1996 had, as its aim, actively meeting the objectives are facing us. Now we can confidently say that we have succeeded in achieving these.
With best wishes,
Eugen Stashkov,
Director-General of AGEPI
