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Economy

The Central Bank of Transnistria "threw" one million US dollars on the market

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The so-called Central Bank of Transnistria threw one million US dollars on the local financial market to calm down the people. The money was given to the 30 most popular exchange offices from Tiraspol and to 10 from Bender, says the Transnistrian press.

The local experts think that the people will buy foreign currencies as US dollars in order to make some reserves and then, the demand of them will decrease.

“In order to spread the money to most of the people and to avoid speculations, there was established that the maximum amount for a person cannot exceed 300 dollars”, says the same source.

The Vice-Director of the Bank, Alexandr Leanca, stated that now the foreign currencies will be available for buying in “enough quantity” by both private companies and people.

At the end of 2014, the separatist leader, Evgeny Shevchuk, recognized that there is a problem with the foreign currencies in the region and that Transnistria is in economic isolation.

“At the moment, we don’t any possibility to bring foreign currencies because Ukraine was asked by Republic of Moldova to close all the bank accounts of the Transnistrian banks”, mentioned then Shevchuk.

Even though, the separatist authorities received a financial aid of 522 million rubles from Russia.

Correspondent reporter of Moldova.org Focus: Transnistrian conflict settlement, Eastern Partnership. Inquiries at [email protected]

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Politics

Promo-LEX about Maia Sandu’s UN speech: The president must insist on appointing a rapporteur to monitor the situation of human rights in Transnistria

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The President of the Republic of Moldova, Maia Sandu, pays an official visit to New York, USA, between September 21-22. There, she participates in the work of the United Nations General Assembly. According to a press release of the President’s Office, the official will deliver a speech at the tribune of the United Nations.

In this context, the Promo-LEX Association suggested the president to request the appointment of a special rapporteur in order to monitor the situation of human rights in the Transnistrian region. According to Promo-LEX, the responsibility for human rights violations in the Transnistrian region arises as a result of the Russian Federation’s military, economic and political control over the Tiraspol regime.

“We consider it imperative to insist on the observance of the international commitments assumed by the Russian Federation regarding the withdrawal of the armed forces and ammunition from the territory of the country,” the representatives of Promo-LEX stated. They consider the speech before the UN an opportunity “to demand the observance of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the Russian Federation with reference to this territory which is in its full control.”

“It is important to remember about the numerous cases of murder, torture, ill-treatment, forced enlistment in illegal military structures, the application of pseudo-justice in the Transnistrian region, all carried out under the tacit agreement of the Russian Federation. These findings stem from dozens of rulings and decisions issued by the European Court of Human Rights, which found that Russia is responsible for human rights violations in the region.”

The association representatives expressed their hope that the president of the country would give priority to issues related to the human rights situation in the Transnistrian region and would call on relevant international actors to contribute to guaranteeing fundamental human rights and freedoms throughout Moldova.

They asked Maia Sandu to insist on the observance of the obligation to evacuate the ammunition and the military units of the Russian Federation from the territory of the Republic of Moldova, to publicly support the need for the Russian Federation to implement the ECtHR rulings on human rights violations in the Transnistrian region, and to request the appointment of an UN Human Rights Council special rapporteur  to monitor the human rights situation in the Transnistrian region of the Republic of Moldova.

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The Promo-LEX Association concluded that 14 out of 25 actions planned within the National Action Plan for the years 2018–2022 concerning respecting human rights in Transnistria were not carried out by the responsible authorities.

The association expressed its concern and mentioned that there are a large number of delays in the planned results. “There is a lack of communication and coordination between the designated institutions, which do not yet have a common vision of interaction for the implementation of the plan.”

Promo-LEX requested the Government of the Republic of Moldova to re-assess the reported activities and to take urgent measures, “which would exclude superficial implementation of future activities and increase the level of accountability of the authorities.”

Photo: peacekeeping.un.org

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Elections

Russia’s legislative elections: Why are there 27 polling stations in Transnistria?

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Legislative elections are currently being held in Russia between September 17-19, as 450 new members in the State Duma need to be elected.

The Central Election Commission (CEC) of the Russian Federation decided to open a record number of polling stations in the Transnistrian region – 27 polling stations, in addition to only 3 polling station opened on the right bank of the Dniester in such big cities as Chisinau, Comrat and Balti.

That is the largest number of polling stations opened by the Russian CEC in a foreign country, and five polling stations more than in the 2016 elections. Two of the polling stations were established in Tiraspol, being open from Friday to Sunday. The rest of the Russian polling stations on the Transnistrian territory are opened on Sunday only. The most astonishing fact is that no state other than Russia has ever opened polling stations in the separatist region of the Republic of Moldova. Actually, no polling stations are being opened on the Transnistrian territory when it comes to national elections of the Republic of Moldova either.

Therefore, one could say that the stakes are high when it comes to Transnistrian voters, especially since, most likely, the hopes of Russian authorities are not necessarily based on a large turnout and their real support, rather on the real possibility of electoral fraud on a territory that is not controlled by the constitutional authorities in Chisinau.

Before the presidential elections in 2018, Russian authorities announced that there are 220 thousand Russian citizens living in the Transnistrian region. That time, 24 polling stations were opened in the separatist area. Despite the fact that the Tiraspol Electoral Commission announced that, in the last year and a half alone, the voter turnout has officially fallen in the region by more than 7 700 people, the Russian CEC still decided to establish a record number of polling stations this year, which strengthened the argument about the possibility of election fraud.

Both Tiraspol’s administration and the regional media campaigned for the ruling political party United Russia and called for a high turnout at polling stations. Transnistria’s leader, Vadim Krasnoselski, urged the people on the left bank of the Dniester to come to the polls “because despite all the difficulties, Russia does not forget Transnistria and helps it as much as possible.”

It seems that the campaigning, along with the Russian sponsorship in the region, show great results during every election ballot, as Russian citizens voting in Russian elections in Transnistria are a more active electorate than Moldovan citizens residing in Transnistria and voting in the Moldovan elections at the polling stations arranged on the other bank of the Dniester, especially for them. In the previous Russia’s legislative elections, 56 thousand people voted in Transnistria, while just under 29 thousand inhabitants of the Transnistrian region voted in the recent Moldova’s parliamentary elections.

Before every election ballot held in the Russian Federation, Moldovan authorities make statements, suggesting the Russian side to abstain from opening polling stations in Transnistria, whereas Russian authorities ignore them every time.

This year, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration of the Republic of Moldova also sent a note of protest against opening the polling stations in Transnistria. “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration regrets that, despite the position consistently expressed by the Moldovan authorities, the Russian side acted in a manner that does not correspond to the principle of sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Moldova and the bilateral legal framework.”

The Ministry representatives noted that Russian authorities were informed of the lack of impediments to open polling stations in localities under the control of Moldova’s constitutional authorities and requested the Russian side to refrain from opening the 27 polling stations in the localities of the breakaway region, given the impossibility of ensuring the necessary security conditions for the current elections.

Moscow’s Central Election Commission also opened nine polling stations in Abkhazia and ten in South Ossetia – two disputed territories that were internationally recognised by Russia and a few more countries, while considered under military occupation, according to the Georgian Government. These lands, that are under the exclusive control of Russia, offer good opportunities to ‘correct’ any uncomfortable results obtained in the country, where the ruling political party no longer enjoys as much support as it wants to appear.

Photo: wjct.org

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Economy

Moldova will receive a disbursement of 36 million euros as part of the the Economic Recovery Plan

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This week, the European Commission approved the disbursement of 36 million euros in grant money for the Republic of Moldova. The announcement was made by Deputy Director-General for Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations at the European Commission, Katarina Mathernova, who paid an official visit to the Republic of Moldova between September 13-15, together with Managing Director for Russia, Eastern Partnership, Central Asia, Regional cooperation and OSCE, at the European External Action Service, Michael Siebert.

The EU officials had meetings with President Maia Sandu, Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, Nicu Popescu, Speaker of Parliament, Igor Grosu, Prime Minister of the country, Natalia Gavrilita, as well as key representatives of Government, international financial institutions and the civil society, according to a press release issued by the Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of Moldova.

Beside such topics as the EU-Moldova relations and prospects, the priorities of the reform agenda of the new Moldovan Government, preparations for the Eastern Partnership Summit at the end of the year and the Transnistrian conflict settlement, the officials also discussed the EU assistance in support of reforms and the Economic Recovery Plan for Moldova, which was announced in June with a total EU support of 600 million euros over the next 3 years.

“The first measures under the Economic Recovery Plan will shortly materialize, with the expected disbursement of 36 million euros in grant money under budget support programmes to support the authorities’ efforts to fight against the consequences of the pandemic. Moldova can count on EU’s assistance on its path to reforms and to recovery, bringing tangible results to citizens,” Katarina Mathernova stated.

The plan is based on assistance provided by the European Union through various bilateral and regional instruments, aiming to mobilize the funds in the form of grants, loans, guarantees and macro-financial assistance.

“The Economic Recovery Plan for the Republic of Moldova involves much more, not just this financial support provided immediately. It must help digital transformation, strengthen infrastructure, energy efficiency, education and support small and medium-sized enterprises,” the EU official also said.

As Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilita informed, “The Economic Recovery Plan and the 5 flagship initiatives for Moldova in the Eastern Partnership will directly contribute to the reform and consolidation of institutions, stimulate long-term socio-economic development, bring direct benefits to citizens, and unleash new economic opportunities through promoting the green agenda and digitization. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have been hit hard by the crisis. Promoting and diversifying access to finance and reducing collateral requirements will be essential in supporting economic operators. We are grateful to the EU partners who will launch two programs to support 50 000 independent Moldovan SMEs to adapt to the new conditions.”

President of the Republic of Moldova, Maia Sandu, welcomed the decision of the European Union to disburse about 745 million lei in grant money, as the official page of the President’s Office announced. “EU support comes after a long period of freezing of European assistance, caused by former governments. We managed to relaunch the political dialogue with the European Union and resume financial assistance. The Republic of Moldova is gradually regaining the trust of its strategic partners. This European support is also a signal of encouragement for the new Government team in its commitment to clean up the institutions, fight corruption and launch development programs in the country,” said Maia Sandu.

See also: An Economic Recovery Plan for Moldova: 600 million euros for a sustainable recovery from the COVID-19 crisis

Photo: unknown

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