Tiraspol, February 20. /Novosti Pridnestrovya/. Foreign Minister Vitaly Ignatiev said that Moldova’s refusal to accept payments from Pridnestrovian enterprises was a political measure.
“What happens in the banking and economic sectors contradicts the parameters of free trade, including trade in European markets, which was established with the participation of the European Commission. These are absolutely inappropriate actions; they prevent Pridnestrovie from buying goods in the countries of the European Union. This is an exclusively political measure.”
Recall, the banks of Moldova reported that all payments of Pridnestrovian companies from their accounts in Pridnestrovian banks would not be accepted. As a result, PMR economic agents are currently unable to pay for goods and services to Moldovan residents.
Last summer, Moldova blocked a number of Pridnestrovian enterprises the opportunity to open accounts in banks of the Republic of Moldova. And then there were problems with currency conversion. Today, a ban on payments in lei of the Republic of Moldova has been added.
The banking problem has been repeatedly discussed at the level of the Permanent Meeting on the Moldovan-Pridnestrovian settlement in the 5 + 2 format (Pridnestrovie and Moldova are parties; Russia, Ukraine, the OSCE are mediators, the US and the EU are observers).
On February 11, there was held integrated seminar on the banking problem under the auspices of the OSCE. It was attended by European experts, representatives of banks of Moldova.
According to Ignatiev, the banks of the Republic of Moldova, interested in working with Pridnestrovie, “did not understand how to continue working.” They appealed to the National Bank of Moldova. In response, the financial regulator advised "to contact the reintegration bureau and the political leadership of Moldova."
“Thus, the regulator admitted that there were political guidelines that he was forced to carry out, limiting the work of commercial banks, intimidating them,” Ignatiev said.
The PMR Foreign Minister said that all international mediators on the negotiation process between Pridnestrovie and Moldova knew about that problem.
The topic of banks was discussed at a recent meeting between the presidents of Pridnestrovie and Moldova. President of the Republic of Moldova Igor Dodon promised to sort out the situation and solve the problem. But the financial blockade only intensified.
“We know that Igor Dodon held consultations and meetings on the banking problem. We were in touch with our Moldovan colleagues, but I could not get any concrete answers to my questions. There is still no response when the blocking mechanism will be removed, when it will be possible to normally use accounts in Moldovan credit institutions and when the general situation will normalize to engage in trade and economic operations in normal mode,” Ignatiev said.
He added that the Pridnestrovian Foreign Ministry continued to go through the proper diplomatic channels.
“We inform everyone about the situation, we are working at a bilateral level, too, we are meeting with representatives of individual European states in order to prevent the situation from degrading ... We insist that a 5 + 2 meeting be held in the near future. We will work on this with representatives of Russia and the OSCE. And, of course, we will continue to
