Tiraspol, January 20. /Novosti Pridnestrovya/. The Moldovan side was unable to provide any explanations or arguments regarding the introduction of customs duties on Pridnestrovian enterprises from January 1. This is an absolutely destructive step, illegitimate either from the point of view of the agreements of the negotiation process or from the point of view of international norms. The head of the PMR Foreign Ministry Vitaly Ignatiev said this on air of the “Expert Opinion” program on the TSV channel, commenting on the results of the meeting of political representatives of the PMR and the RM.
According to him, additional economic pressure on Pridnestrovie will not affect the normalization of dialogue, but, on the contrary, creates additional tension. Every Pridnestrovian will suffer from this.
“Chisinau could not explain its position. I believe that there were not even arguments, there were theses stating that they have a budget and they want to collect some money. I asked a representative of the Ministry of Finance what relation the budget of Moldova had to the budget of Pridnestrovie. This representative found it difficult to answer, because it is clear: there is nothing to answer. These are all very bad signals,” Vitaly Ignatiev emphasized.
The head of the Pridnestrovian foreign policy department noted that now the main task is to ensure that the rights and freedoms of the residents of Pridnestrovie are not violated.
“We will insist this problem (economic pressure from Moldova) to be raised at the leading levels of the OSCE, in reports to the OSCE Permanent Council. We will continue to work. And this topic no longer goes unnoticed. It is important. We look forward to intensifying work with the Maltese OSCE Chairmanship; we are waiting for the Chairman-in-Office in Pridnestrovie, traditionally within the framework of annual visits,” Vitaly Ignatiev said.
Let us remind you that on January 16, a meeting of political representatives of the PMR and RM Vitaly Ignatiev and Oleg Serebryan was held in Tiraspol. Its main topic was customs duties on Pridnestrovian exports and imports introduced by Moldova on January 1. According to experts, the damage from this could amount to $16 million for Pridnestrovie.
