Tiraspol, 19 November. /Novosti Pridnestrovya/. The government lacks tools to combat economic crimes, including the withdrawal of funds through offshore transactions. This is what the president told Tiraspol residents at a meeting on 18 November.
«It is important to amend laws and gain instruments of control over cash flows, especially offshore transactions. Now each bank is free enough to make such transactions. There is an element of legal vacuum," the president's official website quotes Yevgeny Shevchuk as saying.
The president also mentioned that the government had submitted to the Supreme Council draft laws aimed at tightening control over currency transactions. However, these bills were rejected by the parliament.
It is recalled that now the Investigation Committee (IC) is carrying out a criminal investigation into the illegal withdrawal of $254 million in cash from Pridnestrovie. This money was used by the Sheriff Company for paying delivery contracts concluded with companies registered in offshore zones.
According to information collected by the IC, afterwards this money was withdrawn from Pridnestrovie in parts bypassing customs procedures. The IC is preparing necessary papers to petition competent authorities in foreign countries for legal assistance in investigating this criminal case. The committee is also undertaking to identify the representatives of offshore companies who were involved in smuggling large amounts of foreign currency in cash.
Tiraspol inhabitants also showed interest in non-cash payments. The president said that currently the country's central bank is implementing a national payment system, which is aimed at providing non-cash payments in all retail outlets and other organisations offering goods and services.
According to economists, the indubitable advantage of non-cash transactions is their transparency, easy provability that the transactions did take place, a low risk of becoming counterfeiters' victim, a reduction in recovery expenditures for banks.
