President Yevgeny Shevchuk held a meeting with representatives of the expert (working) groups from Pridnestrovie for economic issues. We remind that expert (working) groups are an integral supplementary mechanism of the negotiation format “5+2”. The task of the expert groups is the development of proposals and draft decisions on issues in their respective fields for signing at the level of representatives on political issues.
The meeting discussed the situation connected with the consequences of blocking the Pridnestrovian economy. We remind that since August 2014 Ukraine, a guarantor country in the negotiation process, has introduced a number of additional restrictive measures against the Pridnestrovian goods moving through the territory of that state. In addition, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine removed by its Decree No.117 dated March 18, 2015 the automobile checkpoints “Kuchurgan” and “Platonovo”, as well as the railway checkpoint “Kuchurgan” from the list of those points through which the movement of excise goods is allowed. The decision comes into force on 18 May 2015.
As stressed by the meeting, the unilateral actions of the Ukrainian partners are an additional aggravating factor for economic agents of the PMR and lead to significant loss of the Pridnestrovian budget. First Deputy Head of the State Customs Committee of the PMR Svetlana Klimenkova, in particular, reported: “In the first quarter of 2015 (compared to the same period of the previous year) there is a fall in trade turnover by 23%, which is 1.7 billion rubles. As a consequence, the amount of customs payments reduced by 49%. Thus, in the first quarter of 2014 the budget got customs payments amounting to 232 million rubles, in the first quarter of 2015 - in the amount of 121 million rubles. Therefore, the loss of the state treasury exceeded 100 million rubles. Customs payments from foreign trade with economic agents of Ukraine decreased by more than 510 million rubles”.
At the meeting government officials, members of the expert groups noted that in the context of regional economic turbulence in terms of customs escort of foreign economic activity a repressive customs regime is actually implemented against the Pridnestrovian economic agents, contrary to the agreements of the negotiation process and international norms.
During the meeting, representatives of the authorized agencies appealed to the president with a proposal to initiate a discussion of Pridnestrovie’s situation at the political level in connection with the unilateral actions of the “5+2” participant.
The president instructed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the PMR to analyze the existence of politically motivated purposes of the Customs authorities of neighboring countries and the EUBAM mission towards the economic entities of Pridnestrovie.
Yevgeny Shevchuk emphasized when the current format “5+2” works and the elements of fragile confidence with the Republic of Moldova recover in parallel, elements of mutual understanding and compromises on more complex issues begin to be observed, actions by a participant of the negotiating format, in particular the Ukrainian partners, in fact, contributed greatly to budget losses and, as a consequence, the impossibility to fully fund the payment of salaries to state employees and pensions to citizens of Pridnestrovie, Ukraine, Russia, Moldova residing in the territory of Pridnestrovie. The head of state noted with regret that the worsening of the socio-economic situation also affected Ukrainian citizens which live in the PMR in the amount of about 80 thousand. Such restrictions, in fact, promote greater poverty of the entire population of the PMR.
“There are some attempts outside to spread ethnic discord in Pridnestrovie. I am confident that these efforts are unsuccessful. We intend to respond all external challenges by consolidation, professional actions and decisions,” - said Yevgeny Shevchuk.
In conclusion the head of state gave a number of instructions to the relevant departments.
