Tiraspol, September, 6. /Novosti Pridnestrovya/. On September 5, the Moldovan commercial bank, in which the accounts of a number of Pridnestrovian enterprises were opened, blocked all operations. Economic entities received a notification demanding to close the account. Thus, Pridnestrovian importers do not have the opportunity to purchase goods and make settlements with foreign partners.
As the Pridnestrovie News Agency correspondent was told in the PRB, the problems began as early as the beginning of summer, when Moldovan banks unilaterally began to refuse to open PMR to economic agents and close existing ones, referring to some internal regulations.
“Since June 2019, the claims of commercial banks of Moldova against Pridnestrovian enterprises to close accounts have been received. These requirements were one-sided, without explanation or in the form of lengthy formulations. The enterprises looked for opportunities to open accounts in other commercial banks of the Republic of Moldova. But just yesterday, these actions, in our opinion, have already become systemic,” Alexey Melnik, First Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank said.
He recalled that the republic has been under certain restrictions for all the years of its existence. The banking sector was no exception.
“The National Bank of Moldova (NBM) has been trying all the time to somehow limit the activities of Pridnestrovian banks. In 2002, in fact, commercial banks of Pridnestrovie were ousted from the financial market of the Republic of Moldova. The NBM has repeatedly sent letters to the Bank of Russia with a request to help ensure that commercial banks of the Russian Federation, which have correspondent relations with Pridnestrovian banks, terminate these relations,” the Deputy Chairman of the PRB said.
But the most powerful blow to the Pridnestrovian banking system was the publication by the US Federal Treasury in 2011 of a document urging US banks to exercise caution when making payments with the financial institutions of Pridnestrovie.
“In practice, getting on the FinCEN list means that all operations with the US dollar of our commercial banks fall under close scrutiny and some restrictions. This affects the timing of operations, the delay, and sometimes the refusal to conduct operations,” Melnik said.
After that, the only way out of the situation was the opening by Pridnestrovian enterprises of direct accounts in banks of Moldova. By the way, this is exactly what the international mediators recommended in the negotiations on the Moldovan-Pridnestrovian settlement.
“There was a sore point for the banking system: part of the liquid resources had to be given up, and these resources did not work for the Pridnestrovian economy, but for the economy of the RM. Yet the enterprises adapted, and this allowed us to continue foreign economic activity,” the first Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank recalled.
Overcoming the current crisis should be a key aspect during the meeting of specialized working groups from the Republic of Moldova and the PMR.
