The Pridnestrovian Foreign Ministry reports that in the past month neighboring Moldova, using the fact that Ukraine closed its borders with Pridnestrovie in late February, has been actively resorting to administrative and bureaucratic barriers and restrictions deliberately creating tension and interruptions in the import of socially significant goods to Pridnestrovie.
Moldova hampers the importation of several batches of medicines, fertilizers, plant-protecting agents needed by Pridnestrovie, as well as industrial machinery for MGRES. Furthermore, periodically, the delivery of raw materials for food production and the import of fuel and equipment are artificially complicated. Moreover, Chisinau, on absolutely false grounds, has blocked export-import activities of JSC Moldova Steel Works (MMZ), Pridnestrovian flagship plant, by banning the supply and transit of raw materials for the metallurgical enterprise since late February 2022. So far, a batch of license plate blanks confiscated back in December 2021 has not been returned to Pridnestrovie. As a result, the routine functioning of the VRO mechanism has been blocked, thus limiting the right of Pridnestrovian motorists to free movement.
Moldova's trade and economic pressure goes beyond unfounded import restrictions. Initiated back in 2019, the banking blockade of Pridnestrovie by Moldova is still in place. It resulted from the imperative ban forbidding the Moldovan commercial banks to serve Pridnestrovian clients, the refusal to convert currencies, the impossibility of correspondent payments by the PMR banks with the outside world, and the discontinued acquiring of international bank cards. All proposals by Pridnestrovie and international experts to normalize the banking cooperation were discarded by Chisinau.
Sustained efforts to find solutions within the negotiation process mechanisms, including interaction with the political representative from the Republic of Moldova and other 5+2 participants have not yielded any results to date, and this, in turn, is a sign of Moldova's specific policies that do not allow using viable technical solutions. It is not surprising that the loud public statement of the political representative of the Republic of Moldova about the allegedly "resolved" problem of importing medicines to Pridnestrovie eventually turned out to be untrue.
The totality of the above anti-democratic and unfriendly restrictions indicates that Pridnestrovie is subject to a new curve of economic blockade waged by the Moldovan side. Such state of play completely contradicts the pleasant-sounding declarations voiced by Moldova's leadership about the alleged commitment to peace, tranquility and socio-humanitarian stability.
There can be no stability in the conditions of a politically motivated violation of the rights of Pridnestrovian citizens who are deliberately limited by Chisinau in the use of medicines and foodstuff, forced to lose wages during downtime of enterprises, restricted in free movement, and face other challenges instigated by the Republic of Moldova.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs calls on the Moldovan side to immediately lift current restrictions in the socio-economic area.
Along with that, we invite other international participants of the 5+2 format to assess the inhumane destructive actions of Moldova amid the general logistic and economic crisis, and to intensify efforts to mitigate the artificially created problems that grossly violate the rights and interests of people.
