Nina Shtanski: "Under the Conditions of the Blockade Pridnestrovie Does Not Develop, but Survives"

Today, the Deputy Chairperson of the Government of the PMR for International Cooperation, Foreign Minister Nina Shtanski met with journalists from Tiraspol and Kishinev in the PMR's MFA. The theme of the briefing was "Actual problems of the economic blockade of Pridnestrovie".Media representatives were mainly interested in issues concerning the prospects for economic and social development of Pridnestrovie in the context of Association Agreement with the European Union signed by the Republic of Moldova, consequences of increasing the comprehensive blockade, as well as the topic of investment attractiveness of the state for international economic partners.

Addressing the journalists welcoming words Nina Shtanski explained that the reason for the meeting was the messages from some members of the Moldovan press and other foreign partners that the economic blockade of Pridnestrovie does not exist and the use of the term in this case is incorrect. As the Minister noted, as arguments they bring in local stores, where everything is in abundance. "We must be careful with terminology. If, God forbid, in Pridnestrovie it would be impossible to get all the things needed for human life, then we would not talk about a blockade. We would talk about a humanitarian catastrophe ", - stated Nina Shtanski. She explained that today we are talking about the blockade, which is expressed in limiting the possibilities of the republic to independently carry out its foreign economic activity, to trade with the outside world and to ensure the development of the country. "Today, we do not develop. We could develop and provide our people a decent standard of living. I really hope that these opportunities will be returned,"- said the diplomat.

During her speech Nina Shtanski attracted journalist's attention to the fact that the conclusions, made by the Moldovan side about upsurge of Pridnestrovian economy since the beginning of 2014, are untenable. “Comparing anything to zero we can get a quite impressive result”, - noted the Head of PMR's MFA. She reminded that in the beginning of 2013 such budget forming enterprises as Moldovan Metallurgic plant, Moldovan GRES (hydroelectric power station), Cement combine had stopped operating due to international conjuncture on commodity markets. In early 2014, these enterprises have resumed their work, and the comparison of the fourth quarter of 2013 and the first quarter of 2014 shows that the overall decline in the trade is almost 20% at equal activity of these enterprises.The Minister noted serious destructive impact of the Ukrainian crisis to the local economy. “In the context of negative development of the situation in Ukraine we addressed to our Moldovan colleagues a request to activate economic interaction, as Pridnestrovie loses Ukrainian market.  We proposed to create a Free Trade Zone: a zone free of any restrictions. The Moldovan side has not responded to this initiative yet and there have not been any substantive discussion of our proposals. We reckon that it will happen”, - expressed her hope Nina Shtanski.The Minister gave to the media representatives specific figures, provided by the Minister of Economic Development of the PMR and the State Customs Committee of the PMR, that show the losses of the Pridnestrovian economy for the first six months of 2014. “Share of custom charges has reduced for 7 percent. Individuals, business owners decreased their economic activity for 20 percent. The amount of importing enterprises has fallen. The flow of goods in the Pridnestrovian-Ukrainian border has already reduced for 43 percent. In value terms foreign economic activity of Pridnestrovie during mentioned period decreased for almost 60 percent. That brought huge losses and a very serious blow to our economy, "- said Nina Shtanski. The Minister marked that the blockade of Pridnestrovie exists in several areas - customs, economy, transport, as well as banking and informational dimensions.  

Going back to the history of the issue, the Head of the PMR's MFA reminded journalists that the first cycle of the blockade occurred in 2001, when Moldova introduced new customs seals that had not been transferred to Pridnestrovie, which, of course, violated the terms of negotiations. The biggest losses, according to Nina Shtanski, Pridnestrovie faced in 2006. "Losses of large enterprises reached 450 million dollars. This figure illustrates the losses that can be calculated. To calculate consequential losses is impossible. It is impossible to calculate how many jobs were not created, how many enterprises were not reequipped and did not increase their production volumes, how many markets were not tapped. We can only guess how many hundreds of millions of dollars these sums can be, "- said the diplomat. In addition, Nina Shtanski brought provisions of the Memorandum ‘97 that imposes certain obligations on its signatories. "Thus far this document is one of the foundations of the negotiation process. It meets the criteria of an international agreement; it must be the only document of the negotiation process, which is deposited with the OSCE. None of the parties of the agreement has not denounced it. It set forth the right of Pridnestrovie to conduct foreign activities independently. This right is now broken, "- said the Minister.

She reminded that in 2012, the resolution of socio-economic problems was declared by leaders of Moldova and Pridnestrovie as a priority issue of the negotiating agenda. However, as Nina Shtanski noted, existing problems not only are unsolved, but, unfortunately, they are increasing. "Under these conditions Pridnestrovie does not develop, but survives," - said Nina Shtanski.