Tiraspol, December 14. /Novosti Pridnestrovya/. This year, the growth of the Pridnestrovian economy is expected to reach 1%. This result is due to a decrease in production volumes of the Moldavian Metallurgical Plant. At the same time, growth was recorded in other sectors of the economy. The Chairman of the PMR Government Alexander Martynov said this on air of the First Pridnestrovian TV channel.
He recalled that in 2018, against the background of challenging 2016 and 2017, the economy of the PMR made a serious breakthrough. There was a low base effect. The Prime Minister noted that a serious effect had been achieved thanks to measures taken by the state authorities of the republic.
Alexander Martynov explained why Pridnestrovie`s GDP grew by only 1% this year.
In 2019, almost all sectors of the economy showed growth, for example, in the electric power industry, up to 30% in construction, the head of the Government noted. There was growth in mechanical engineering and the chemical industry.
At the same time, the Prime Minister said that serious problems had arose at the Moldavian Metallurgical Plant that year. Two factors influenced the operation of the enterprise. A number of partner countries of MMP introduced protective measures in relation to its domestic market, domestic producer. According to Alexander Martynov, this is a common protectionism. It not only acts in relation to Pridnestrovie, but also in general deliveries from other countries. In addition, a number of countries continued their unfriendly economic policies specifically with regard to Pridnestrovie and MMP, introducing various quotas and bans.
As a result, the volume of import and export of scrap decreased. MMP is a large enterprise, therefore, the decline in production has practically nullified the positive results and trends that were visible in other sectors, the head of the executive branch of Government said.
“We are trying to influence this situation through foreign policy channels, but not everything is in our power here. We can change the management at the plant, make it more efficient. We can stop corruption and theft of enterprise money, which had already been done, but we cannot influence the world community so that they do not introduce protectionist measures in relation to their producers,” Alexander Martynov said.
This year the company expects a 20 percent decline in production volumes. “We think that this is temporary. Infinitely, sanctions cannot take effect. We hope that next year the situation will improve,” the Prime Minister said.
At the same time, this state of affairs did not critically affect the revenues of the republican budget. Alexander Martynov explained that the main taxpayers had been in industries that had showed economic growth. Thus, the growth rate of tax revenues amounted to more than 8% (about 300 million rubles). “This significant amount allowed us to strengthen the support of the population, to strengthen the communal and social infrastructure,” the Prime Minister summed up.
