According to the Ministry's note, the spokesman said, a decision to detain the two women was made by the authorities after Moldovan customs inspectors found that the sisters had attempted to import an undeclared sum of money exceeding the minimum allowed for undeclared entry.
The Russian Embassy demanded that a representative of its Consulate department be urgently allowed to meet the detained women. "We are waiting for the Moldovan side's response at the moment," the spokesman said.
The Russian Embassy has sent a note to the Moldovan Ministry of Foreign Affairs requesting official clarification of the situation concerning detention of the two Russian citizens.
On Friday, the Moldovan authorities detained a number of people from the CIS countries.
"The Russian Foreign Ministry is concerned about detention of 18 individuals, 13 of whom are Russian nationals, in Moldova," says a memorandum issued by the Russian Foreign Ministry on Friday.
According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, the Moldovan authorities informed the Russian Embassy in Chisinau that "11 citizens of the Russian Federation have been already deported from Moldova, with two Russian nationals still remaining in custody".
The head of the Moldovan Interior Ministry's press service Andrei Slutu told RIA Novosti earlier that 20 citizens of Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan "had been arrested".
According to him, Moldovan law enforcers had found the above individuals carrying advanced equipment they used to assess the current electoral sentiment in a number of Moldova's cities.
Earlier, Moldova had deported six other Russian nationals, a move which, the Russian Foreign Ministry believes, "runs counter to the proclaimed aim of ensuring transparency and democratic spirit of the ongoing election process in the republic".
The Russian citizens were charged with engaging in allegedly illegal activities in respect to the current election campaign in Moldova, the memorandum issued by the Russian Foreign Ministry's press and information department says.
The Russian Foreign Ministry pointed out that the Russian Embassy in Chisinau had already sent an official request to the Moldovan Ministry of Foreign Affairs demanding clarification of the situation.
"We are witnessing an evident bias in attitude towards Russian representatives, particularly notable against the background of vigorous activity undertaken over the past months in Moldova by electoral experts from other countries," the memorandum points out.
