Today, Tiraspol hosted closed expert hearings on the topic “Europe and Former Soviet Space: Relevant Aspects of Economic Cooperation”. This event has been arranged by Foreign Ministry of the PMR and Russian Institute for Strategic Studies for heads of economic agencies of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic. Participants from Pridnestrovie included Deputy Chairperson of the Government of the PMR for International Cooperation, Foreign Minister Nina Shtanski, Deputy Chairperson of the Government of the PMR for Economic Development and Finances, Minister of Economic Development Maiya Parnas, Deputy Chairperson of the Government of the PMR, Chairperson of the Committee on Prices and Antimonopoly Activity Vitaliy Ulitka, Chairperson of the Supreme Soviet of the PMR Mikhail Burla, as well as representatives of structural units of relevant ministries and agencies of the republic, and members of the Pridnestrovian State University after T.G. Shevchenko. RISS delegation was represented by chief of the RISS sector for international economic organizations Vyacheslav Kholodkov, leading research fellow of the sector for economy of foreign countries of RISS Pavel Zakharov, RISS senior research fellow Vasiliy Kashirin, RISS senior research fellow Oleg Nemenskiy, chief of RISS sector for bioeconomy and sustainable development Dmitriy Lyzhin, senior research fellow of RISS sector for world markets behavior Sergey Karatayev, and research fellow of RISS sector for economy of foreign countries Yekaterina Lukashenko.
Opening up the hearings, Nina Shtanski stressed high importance of using intellectual potential to respond to the challenges faced today by Pridnestrovie. “Outcome of the forthcoming Eastern Partnership Summit may disrupt interaction which has only started to establish in the 5+2 format and in overall settlement process of Pridnestrovie-Moldova relations. Obviously, balance of interaction can be disrupted,” the Minister voiced such concerns. She also pointed out that the possible outcomes of the Vilnius Summit will primarily negatively affect the Pridnestrovian economy, which is already functioning in conditions of blockade. “Discussing economic aspects today is, in my opinion, a great opportunity for representatives of economic block of our state to “synchronize watches” with the major and best Russia's think tank. I am sure, today's discussion will serve as a good basis for developing solutions aimed at stabilization of socio-economic situation in Pridnestrovie,” Nina Shtanski concluded.
Vyacheslav Kholodkov expressed solidarity with the opinion of the head of the Pridnestrovian diplomacy regarding the fact that outcomes of the Vilnius summit will create quite specific preconditions for reorganization of foreign economic policy of Pridnestrovie. However, Russian expert believes it is too early to take concrete steps in this direction. “Objective evaluation of this influence in the full will be possible only after several months following the signing of the Agreement when its contents and execution mechanism are known,” Vyacheslav Kholodkov explained. In his opinion, one of the main problems of the Pridnestrovian economy is imbalance in foreign trade, that is, excess of imports over exports. “Moldova having signed Agreement on Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area with the European Union will lead to cheapening of its products in the European market, consequently, these products will flood out the Pridnestrovian market. The most obvious way out of this situation is to increase exports, as a variant, at the expense of Russian market. This issue today requires a more focused study,” Vyacheslav Kholodkov.
In the course of the event, experts presented a number of reports revealing important aspects of economic cooperation of Europe and countries of the former Soviet space in the context of the planned signing by Ukraine and initialing by Moldova of documents on associated membership and accession of these countries to the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area with the European Union.
Following the results of the hearings, experts of Russia's Institute for Strategic Studies will prepare analytical document to be submitted to top leadership of the Russian Federation for familiarizing with real state of affairs in socio-economic sector of Pridnestrovie and to generate further strategy on minimizing risks for the republic.
