By Alexander Tanas

CHISINAU (Reuters) - Moldova is to alter the three-letter international abbreviation for Chisinau airport, a government minister said on Thursday, a new bid to distance itself from its Soviet legacy and dependence on the Russian language.

Minister of Infrastructure and Territorial Development Andrei Spinu said that from Jan. 18, Chisinau airport would use the abbreviation RMO - signifying Republic of Moldova -- rather than the Soviet-era designation of KIV.

The old abbreviation was used as an approximation of Kishinyov, as the capital is known in Russian, replaced in the post-Soviet era by Chisinau, the Romanian-language name.

"Changing an abbreviation is quite a lengthy procedure and it has gone on for nearly a year," Spinu told Pro-Tv Chisinau.

"The main aim is to remove the Russian name of KIV and rid ourselves of the legacy of what the name Kishinyov meant."

Romanian is the sole state language in the country lying between Ukraine and European Union member Romania, but Russian is still widely used.

Spinu said attempts to find other abbreviations reflecting the capital's post-Soviet name ran into difficulty as they were already in use on the Internet.

"I think we will quickly get used to the new abbreviation signifying the name of our country," he told Pro-TV.

Pro-European President Maia Sandu has denounced Russia's invasion of Ukraine and singled out Moscow as the main threat to her country's security. The European Union this month agreed to start talks on extending membership to both Ukraine and Moldova.

Moscow has accused Sandu and other officials of engaging in russophobia.

(Reporting by Alexander Tanas; Writing by Ron Popeski; Editing by Sandra Maler)