The PMR President Vadim Krasnoselsky:
Good afternoon, dear representatives of the media – editors-in-chief, journalists, Pridnestrovians, guests. I think we will have an interesting dialogue – questions on current topics of life both in Pridnestrovie and outside our republic. There are no uncomfortable questions as usual. Please ask what do you consider necessary, what worries you. I will express my opinion on certain processes, including geopolitical ones. Please, the floor is yours!
Viktor Savchenko, First Pridnestrovian TV Channel:
Vadim Nikolayevich, good afternoon. Congratulation on upcoming Republic Day. The first question I would like to ask concerns security. This is what worries Pridnestrovians most. We see that conflicts are constantly breaking out or escalating around us. It seems in general that it is no longer fashionable to resolve problems by peaceful diplomatic means in today's world. Unfortunately, this is done differently. Our neighbors are constantly arming themselves, and this is no secret. Some weapons are being imported openly, some military aircraft are constantly landing, and maybe something is being imported secretly, something that we do not know about. Without some friendly control, this loose cannon might fire at any given time sooner or later. It is now written in plain text that Russian peacekeepers and Pridnestrovie are enemies or a threat in the National Security Strategy of Moldova, as far as I understand. What should we prepare for in general? How high is the risk of a repeat of the armed conflict?
The PMR President Vadim Krasnoselsky:
This is a broad question. What is happening around us, I call only one word – a catastrophe. I do not hide my opinion. I am deeply convinced that any war can be prevented in principle. Almost any war with a few exceptions. This requires dialogue naturally. No matter how difficult it may be. In general, dialogue is difficult. Defending peace is also very difficult. It is impossible nevertheless to stop a war in a number of cases in the near future. War means death, destruction, decline, degradation of the population iving in certain territories. This is true. I think that the war, the military actions in Ukraine should have sobered up many people. Those who, thank God, did not become, let's say, a party to the conflict, can see what war is and draw a conclusion, does Moldova need it, does Pridnestrovie need it. Of course not. I consider the current leadership of Moldova, that they sincerely do not want war in the common sense of the leadership. I believe in this. Are they arming themselves? Well, so be it. We also monitor all these processes, we look at what weapons they receive – lethal, non-lethal, what kind – offensive, defensive, and so on. We draw our own conclusions on this matter. I will tell you this: if there is a war all around, it would be strange if this or that state did not arm itself, having such capabilities. Do you understand? This was probably strange in fact. What weapons are acquired, for what purposes, what units are formed – this is a completely different question. This issue is also being addressed. I am convinced in general that common sense will prevail, and both the leadership and the people of Moldova do not need war. Negotiations are needed, which I constantly talk about in principle.
Igor Avrenev, TSV:
Vadim Nikolayevich, this week literally the President of Ukraine announced that the gas contract with the Russian Federation will not be extended and Russian gas will not continue to flow through Ukraine. Everyone knows that we receive Russian gas through the territory of Ukraine. Moldovan politicians have begun to prepare for the crisis and comment on the situation in Moldova. And what about us? What options await us?
The PMR President Vadim Krasnoselsky:
The issue of gas and energy is of interest to everyone. This is the basis of any economy, the basis of life. Negotiations are underway, work is underway. It is ongoing almost constantly online. There is not a day that I do not deal with this issue, give instructions, talk to the relevant people, and so on.
We have two ways of supplying gas to the republic: through the territory of Ukraine and the second through the Republic of Moldova, through the Caushany station. This pipe comes to us and supplies Pridnestrovie. This pipe is sufficient to meet all the needs of Pridnestrovie and to ensure the contractual obligations of the Dniester GRES to its consumers both domestic and foreign. It is good when there are two channels naturally. They have been tested. The hostilities on the territory of Ukraine complicate this process. There are certain risks of course, but nevertheless, I am convinced that a solution will be found, a positive solution.
Alexander Lagutin, RIA Novosti:
Vadim Nikolayevich, Moldovan Deputy Prime Minister for Reintegration Oleg Serebryan said literally the day before, that the reintegration process has accelerated greatly, and will soon go even faster. How do you assess the current situation in the negotiation process? What can we expect on the eve of the election campaign? Will there be any progress or, on the contrary, will everything freeze? What do we ultimately want from the negotiations with Moldova?
The PMR President Vadim Krasnoselsky:
Unfortunately, Oleg Serebryan did not show himself brightly on this negotiation track. I expected more from him, to be honest. I remember that he “showed himself brightly” when he proposed to spell out “Pridnestrovie” with a small letter. I remember this “achievement”, but I don’t remember anything else. I am not optimistic about integration or reintegration. We need to understand each other in order to integrate, be closer, and agree on certain issues. I think these are all pre-election issues. We need to make statements to please statistics – not the people, but statistics. Do you understand? Pre-election percentages: for, against, and so on. People react, political scientists are watching this closely, these statements are being made in principle. There are no negotiations in fact, unfortunately. There are no normal negotiations. There is no “5+2” format, there are no “1+1” meetings yet. Vitaly Ignatiev and Oleg Serebryan are not “1+1”, these are meetings of political representatives. They are being held. There was such a meeting literally yesterday. It was not public, but we do not make secrets. Current topical issues were discussed that concern the life of both Moldova and Pridnestrovie. There were other people there in addition to Mr. Ignatiev and Mr. Serebryan – officials and others, consultants who are responsible for this or that direction in our relations. As for the "5+2" format, I would like to remind you that it was Moldova that tried to bury it in 2019, disrupted the signing, then the pandemic, then the hostilities. Everyone unanimously says that it is impossible. No, everything is possible. It is a good excuse, a very convenient one. Peace negotiations are always possible. This should be taken as an axiom. It is a question of desire – is there or not. Not yet. Are my meetings with the top officials of Moldova possible? I do not rule them out today. Please, I am open. Is it necessary? They are quite possible. We have an agenda, including peace, security, and everything else that is in the bloc. You know all this very well. I do not refuse and am always ready for these meetings. What I mentioned, all this actually slows down the negotiations. No breakthrough. There are statements – and there is life. Unfortunately, life confirms the truth that Moldova is not ready for negotiations today.
Yulia Gorlova, "Sputnik" news agency:
The opinion is heard that Moldova can join the European Union without Pridenstrovie more and more often in Chisinau, Brussels and other capitals. What is your attitude to this?
The PMR President Vadim Krasnoselsky:
A comprehensive question: for or against the European Union. Here you need to understand the essence - why. I again want to touch on history in order to understand the essence – not as ancient as it could be, but at least 250 years old. You begin to understand something when you study the history of this region in the context of at least 250 years ago. History is cyclical after all and nothing new happens. Look at how this region lived. It was called Bessarabia, Bessarabian province, then it was in various states and so on. Just look, there is a very interesting point. The region lived at someone's expense, at the expense of the Russian Empire since 1812. After all it was the Russian Empire that rebuilt Bessarabia. Who built the historical center? The Russian Empire. Production appeared and so on – the Russian Empire. We can talk about this further Then, during the occupation or annexation, there was the Romanian period in the history of Moldova. The same thing – the Romanians invested, Bessarabia lived at the expense of Romania. It was a loss-making region by and large. Then there was the Soviet Union, and the Moldavian SSR lived at the expense of the Soviet Union. It was later that they started to say that the Moldavian SSR allegedly feeds the entire Soviet Union. This is not true. The Soviet Union provided a market for the products that were produced in the Moldavian SSR in fact. I will remind you what the Soviet period was in the history of the Moldavian SSR. For example, here is how they got a medical university. Do you know this story? They took the entire medical institute from Leningrad – with its teachers, departments, libraries, laboratories – and moved it to Kishinev. Do you understand? So many universities appeared, the education system was formed. More than 550 large industrial associations were created on the territory of the Moldavian SSR, not to mention small ones. It was a flourishing Moldova, a beauty. The best period in the life of this region was life under the Moldavian SSR – that is, at someone’s expense. There was independence suddenly. Independence happened, and people suffered: privatizations, looting, etc. Practically nothing remained out of these 550 associations. You all remember the tractor plant, the plant producing household appliances, washing machines, refrigerators, furniture factories, large inter-collective farm gardens, etc. All this was destroyed. Cultural centers, sports facilities were destroyed. This is the result of independence, when the state stopped living at someone’s expense. There is a need to return to living at someone’s expense now. This is how I understand it. Europe is the best option today. If there was another option, we would consider it, but there is none yet. To live at the expense of the European Union. Of course, people are told about democracy, about the sweet life in Europe. No problem. What requirements will be put forward for integration into the European Union, who knows? Do you know, Yulia? What will be written in small print there, do you know? This operation is called "fine print". What will be proposed? Perhaps the complete destruction of agriculture. Perhaps the complete destruction of all industry. Perhaps the transfer of all land to foreign investors. Maybe I'm fantasizing or maybe not. I deeply doubt that the current leadership of Moldova will impose its demands on the European Union and set its conditions: if we join Europe, we want this and that. I doubt it. Everything suggests that this will not happen. They will each think in their own way, they will see their own picture, but they will not see the truth, what is hidden behind it when people vote for the European Union. The leaders of Moldova have only one desire – to live at someone's expense, because "they will save us". That's all, you understand? Bankrupt. We need, so to speak, to lean on someone. This is history, and this is the truth. The people have to choose and think, of course.
I am not against the European Union. How can I be against the European Union? These are united states in principle. They are united by many of the principles of the Soviet Union by and large. There is probably a lot that is good there. I always evaluate other aspects: the attitude towards people, towards religion, towards values. It was like a cold shower when I saw the opening of the Olympics for me personally. The 12 apostles. I want to remind you that all of these 12 apostles ended their lives in agony, in torture. Only one died a natural death in prison. They are holy people, recognized by the entire world. A group of some subhumans, perverts mock the memory and all of Christianity. That is the European Union. I am afraid to think when children will be taught this in schools. They teach this in schools there. They will watch and explain that this is “correct”. I cannot understand, when the Koran is burned, when the Bible is burned in Europe, when it is protected by the police. In my opinion this is not freedom of speech, this is not democracy, this is permissiveness, licentiousness and some kind of idiocy. We need to think about this – what will happen here if there is a European Union. There are a lot of good things at the same time, no question. Therefore, people should choose, let people vote, of course. As for the Pridnestrovian people, the people have the right to decide their own destiny. The Moldovan authorities do not want to hold a referendum in Pridnestrovie. They are afraid. Why are they afraid? Because we were brought up on our values, on our traditions, on our languages, on our understanding of life, I believe, on the correct, absolutely correct traditions of this society. Probably, they think about the result – about a negative one. Maybe. I don’t know. I cannot speak for the people in this regard. They are afraid to even ask. If the people are not asked, there will be no European Union here. The European Union has one rule by the way, it is written that when joining the European Union, a referendum is mandatory. So they are holding it on the territory of historical Bessarabia. Let the people make a choice in this part. we can talk about another important topic. Integration after all. I wanted to connect it with this question, because something is changing. What integration are we talking about? Integration with Moldova or integration with the European Union? Ask the leadership now: what do you mean, integration with what? If with Moldova, then this is one integration. If with the European Union – another integration, gentlemen. Joining the European Union and living at someone else's expense means, in fact, losing sovereignty in some part. This is no secret. This is already a different form of existence for Moldova. So where are you calling us? To a Moldova that will be independent, that will be self-sufficient, that will be so strong and will be friends with everyone? Or to some pseudo-Moldova, which will already be part of some territorial space? Make up your mind. We should know this.
Even more questions arise here. Let me explain which ones. They are very important as a President for me as a person, as a father and grandfather, whose children and grandchildren go to school and study history. I was not lazy, I took a history textbook, which is used to teach children in Moldova. It is called "History of the Romanians" or "General History". I am "admired" in quotes by the authors of this textbook for grades 9-12, those who so subtly try to whitewash Nazi criminals, child killers, perverts and transfer all the suffering of the people to the side that has nothing to do with it. I will even give a couple of examples. Read their history textbook carefully. Marshal Antonescu is the liberator of Bessarabia and "transnistria". Liberator, do you understand? Yes, they write there that he is a satellite of Hitler, that he is, in principle, a Nazi. This is in the textbook, but the "liberator" is also listed as a "liberator". Let's move on. The Jassy-Kishinev operation is the Soviet occupation of Bessarabia. Do you understand? That is, Antonescu is a liberator in the history textbook that children are taught in schools with Romanian as the language of instruction, and the Soviet period is an occupation. I have already talked about the occupation. This is the heyday of the Moldavian SSR. Those compilers at least took the trouble to look in Ozhegov's dictionary and other sources to see what "occupation" is. There are signs of occupation: the creation of ghettos, concentration camps, the prohibition of languages, and so on. I don't remember that during the Soviet Union (I lived here then) there were concentration camps, ghettos, that someone was forbidden to speak their native language, on the contrary, education in the Moldavian language was developed (Moldavian SSR), industry and everything else was developed. It was the pearl of the Soviet Union – the Moldavian SSR. That's how it was.
I am going to focus on the occupation. The dictator Antonescu was a crazy person in fact a schizophrenic, a mass murderer. Bessarabia was occupied, the so-called "transnistria" was occupied. What is "transnistria"? People who do not think at all, or some, on the contrary, deliberately call Pridnestrovie "transnistria" – the territory beyond the Dniester, but historically, "transnistria" is a territory that was limited by the Dniester, the Southern Bug and the Black Sea. The distance from Odessa to Zhmerynka was 345 kilometers. Odessa was the capital. This occupation territory, which Hitler transferred to the control of Royal Romania, was called "transnistria" with its capital in Odessa. If you think about it, what "transnistria" in Pridnestrovie, if the capital is Odessa? What was happening on the territory of "transnistria" - in the occupation zone? A couple of examples. On October 20, 1941, Antonescu decided to carry out a punitive, intimidating action. Of course, partisans, one thing, another. He simply gathered 25 thousand Odessans and shot them. This is October 20, 1941. 25 thousand killed in one day – adults, old people, women, children. A child killer, I talked about that. He is a hero in history books. During the existence of "transnistria" – from August 1941 to 1944, until liberation, about 350 thousand Jews living in the territory of the so-called transnistria were killed - shot, burned alive. About 170 concentration camps and ghettos were created on the territory of "transnistria". This is the work of Antonescu, who "liberated" Bessarabia, "liberated" "transnistria". And then, when the Romanians suffered a catastrophe at Stalingrad, realizing the inevitability of the fate of "transnistria" and Bessarabia, in early February 1943 Antonescu carried out an operation codenamed "1111". The goal of this operation was to remove everything from the territory of the so-called "transnistria" and from the territory of Bessarabia. Everything. Rails were dismantled. All production was removed. Absolutely. So that people would not do the spring sowing, realizing that the harvest would go to the liberating Red Army, shovels were taken away, cattle was driven away, condemning them to starvation. That's a liberator, do you understand? This is all history. Please, read it. We come to the most important thing. We are so different from modern Moldova and historical Bessarabia that it is difficult to imagine reintegration, do you understand? It's difficult. We have different heroes. We have Zhukov, Rokossovsky, Malinovsky, Tolbukhin, Ivan Soltys, Bochkovsky, Poletsky - heroes of the Soviet Union, and so on, and so on, and so on. That is, the Soviet people who destroyed fascism and Nazism, liberated the peoples of Europe. Their national heroes are those who killed hundreds of thousands of people. Monsters, child killers, rapists – heroes. What reintegration? You understand, there are deep moments here. It's not just going and saying hello. We don't wish them harm. I want to see neighboring Moldova as a flourishing land. This is normal from the point of view of neighborly relations. We are absolutely different. We speak different languages, we think absolutely differently. Everything I said is written in history textbooks, this is how a generation is taught, you understand? A generation is taught according to these documents. Therefore, if they want to go to Europe, let them vote, think about what will happen next, make their choice. I will express my opinion regarding the history of Bessarabia in general, the former Moldavian SSR. Of course, people always think about a bright future. Probably, many think that if they vote for the European Union, there will be a bright future. Perhaps, but no one knows this. I know one thing, that this region had only a bright past called the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic. A bright past that they are trying to forget and call an occupation, but whether there will be a bright future, time will tell, but I wish it for them.
Well, finishing this topic, it is large, voluminous, I still want to return to the term "transnistria". You know, there are signs, symbols that have been discredited by time, history, politicians, officials. These are symbols of fascism and Nazism, which are prohibited by normal civilized states. If you take the Holocaust Museum in Israel, it is absolutely rightly stated there that "transnistria" is a synonym for the word "Holocaust". It was "transnistria" that brought great misfortune, death, humiliation to our region. This is fascism. "transnistria" is discrediting. This word has been historically discredited by and large. This is fascism, this is Nazism, these are mass shootings, these are infanticides, this is the Holocaust. Therefore, I will come forward with a legislative initiative to equate the term "transnistria" with the symbols of fascism and Nazism with the corresponding legal support and development of this idea literally after the celebration of Republic Day, when the Supreme Council meets after parliamentary recess. We cannot use the term "transnistria". We cannot. This is blood, this is suffering, this is hatred, this is war. There is a good word Pridnestrovie. You can say it in any language. Let them learn.
Veniamin Demidetsky, TASS news agency:
Vadim Nikolayevich, there are many recipients of Russian pensions and benefits in Moldova. The Moldovan government has joined the anti-Russian sanctions, blocking money transfers and banking cooperation in every possible way. Many Moldovans have turned to Pridnestrovian banks in this situation. Could they have problems here?
The PMR President Vadim Krasnoselsky:
We constantly have problems with settlements, with banks. There questions again appeared just yesterday. I have no doubt that Moldova is taking advantage of the military actions, taking advantage of the broken relations and resorting to pressure on Pridnestrovie, not to reintegration, but to pressure. This concerns the banking sector, this concerns the registration of accounts of our enterprises that are not registered, which are closed, and so on. Of course, there may be problems therefore. They can only be resolved through negotiations. I would like to avoid them, but it probably won’t work.
Alla Ivanchenko, “News of Pridnestrovie” News Agency:
The ruling party of Moldova deputy Shoimaru stated that this autumn the activity of the Russian Orthodox Church may be banned in Moldova. What do you think about this?
The PMR President Vadim Krasnoselsky:
Let him try to do it if he wants a surge of civil disobedience in Moldova, mass protests, actions, etc. I suppose that all this leads to serious tension in Moldova. Firstly, it is necessary to at least create our own autocephalous Moldovan church in order to ban the temples of the Russian Orthodox Church, but there is no such decision. Who will do this? Or to go to the Romanian church. This is a complex process. It is not for him to decide. These people are simply making statements without knowing what they are talking about, how it is done, and what will ultimately follow.
You cannot fight faith in general. If we look at the history of religion, the canonicity of the church, this is also a history of 220-250 years. His Serene Highness Prince Potemkin-Tavrichesky took the city of Bender and the fortress without a fight in 1789. His Serene Highness Prince Potemkin ruled Wallachia, Moldova with the capital of Iasi and Bessarabia, the district city of Kishinev in fact from 1789 to 1791. He ruled this territory. The Russian Empire, represented by Potemkin-Tavrichesky, ruled this territory. This territory was in vassal dependence on the Turks. The Russians won certain Russo-Turkish wars. The governor Potemkin-Tavrichesky ruled these lands. Of course, there were Orthodox churches, there were Orthodox churches. It was the clergy who turned to Potemkin-Tavrichesky in the period 1789-1790 with a request to convert to the Russian Orthodox Church. They were formally subordinate to Constantinople previously. Constantinople had no power, no troops, nothing. They needed protection, because their neighbors did not let them live in peace. The Austro-Hungarian Empire with its moments and so on. That is, by and large, they were waiting for the protection of the Russian crown, the Russian tsar, Empress Catherine the Great. It was decided then after consulting with Empress Catherine the Great and the clergy, that the churches of Bessarabia, Wallachia and Moldova could go under the jurisdiction of the Russian Orthodox Church (in this case, Bessarabia) if desired. Thus began the transition from Constantinople to the Russian Orthodox Church. Romania as a state did not exist at that time. When the state of Romania was created, about 150 years ago, then by agreement the Romanian Orthodox Church was formed, and the churches became Romanian on the territory of Wallachia and Moldova with the capital Iasi. Do not confuse. They remained under the Russian Orthodox Church in Bessarabia. Only when there was occupation, annexation, whatever you call it, from 1918 to 1940, from 1941 to 1944, during this period of time there was definitely a Romanianization of the Bessarabian Church. They switched over to the Russian Patriarchate again then. Therefore, when someone says that the mother church is Romanian in Bessarabia, they simply do not know the real history. If we are talking about the mother church, then it is probably Constantinople. There was the Russian Empire, and then the Romanian one, but only during such turbulent times as, say, from 1918 to 1944then. That's all. When these people say something like this, they either do not know anything, or it is pure populism. Populism is dangerous. We have coronavirus, there are some other diseases there. There is another virus that eats away brain. It is a Nazi virus, a fascist virus, probably some kind of religious virus. I don’t know what to call it. That’s the problem. People don’t know what they are doing, what they are saying, and what will follow. So God grant them to come to their senses and not allow upheavals in Moldova. They don’t need that.
Alla Ivanchenko, “News of Pridnestrovie” News Agency:
You have repeatedly offered to hold a summit meeting with the President of the Republic of Moldova Maia Sandu. How would you start such a difficult conversation if she suddenly agrees?
The PMR President Vadim Krasnoselsky:
Well, I can’t say that the conversation is difficult. What is a difficult conversation? We would speak in an understandable language, I suppose. We would discuss the topics of peace, security. There is nothing difficult about it. In fact, it is difficult not to talk. It is always easy to talk – when people are reasonable, normal, sane. I am sure that the meeting would take place if Ms. Sandu wanted it. I am not imposing. If there is a desire, there will be a meeting.
Natalia Kozhukhar, Radio 1:
Vadim Nikolayevich, the State Service for Culture has already announced a competition to develop a logo for next year. It is dedicated to the Pridnestrovian identity. Why this particular theme? Why is it so important for us to identify ourselves as the Pridnestrovian people and in no other way now?
The PMR President Vadim Krasnoselsky:
I consider that one of the most important achievements not only of modern Pridnestrovie, but of this region – Pridnestrovie as a continuation of the history of this region - is the creation and formation of the Pridnestrovian people. It exists. If we start to discuss what kind of people live here. What kind of people live here? Romanian, as Serebryan said? This is a lie, this is nonsense, of course. Only Moldovan? No. Only Russian? No. Only Ukrainian? No. What else? Bulgarian, Gagauz, Polish, German? No, of course not. We have a multinational Pridnestrovian people, consisting of people of different nationalities, ethnic groups and ethnic groups. 72 totally. Yes, some ethnic group can be represented by 10 people, but still – 72. The main groups are Russians, Ukrainians, Moldovans, many Gagauz, Bulgarians, people of other nationalities. The Pridnestrovian people are multinational, non-conflict, friendly. This is our achievement. We need to show it again. Please, read the Pridnestrovian Development Strategy, read our state idea – all this is reflected there. Many different events will definitely be planned in the Year of the Pridnestrovian People. As for the logo, imagine a group of people in different costumes who will personify their nationality. Russians, Ukrainians, Moldovans, Bulgarians, Gagauz, Jews, Germans, Poles, Armenians and so on. The friendly Pridnestrovian people. Can this be called a logo? Probably not. Is the picture defining? One hundred percent - yes. This is our Pridnestrovian people, this is our achievement. We have never had national conflicts here. I want to remind you how the Pridnestrovian people were created. Potemkin-Tavrichesky. Not only the churches wanted to go under the Russian Empire. Then the Russian Empire gave protection to the residents of Bessarabia, Wallachia, Moldova (the capital of Iasi) from external influences. The border was determined by the Dniester after the signing of the Treaty of Iasi in 1991. The Turks returned, somewhere with elements of revenge for having bowed to the crown of the Russian Empire. Catherine the Great then suggested that people of Moldovan nationality move from the right bank to the left, under the protection of the Russian Empire. They had never been here. So they moved here, and villages were formed. Please, look at the year of the formation of all Moldavian villages, it corresponds to historical reality. In addition, Catherine the Great offered all residents of the Russian Empire to move to the deserted lands of historical Pridnestrovie and engage in development here. There was no serfdom here, there was a very serious tax break, land plots to peasants were given. The region flourished and very quickly gained a certain level of its history. People of different nationalities, different peoples came here. There were many Jews, because they were given the right to engage in their own entrepreneurial activities here. They took advantage of this. This is how the Pridnestrovian people were formed. Therefore, this is not a Moldavian land at all, and never was. The fact that people live in Moldavian villages is thanks to Catherine the Great, their ancestors came for protection to the Russian Empire. This is all the Pridnestrovian multinational people.
Please, note that we are developing all languages, all traditions, all customs. Not only Russians, Ukrainians, Moldavians, but absolutely everyone. This is correct, absolutely correct, this is the right way forward. We have a multinational direction of development of society, not a mononational one. One of the factors (it's like fighting the church): if you want to blow up society from within, declare the country mononational. That's it. This is definitely a conflict, definitely a war, tension, possibly revolutions. This is the mistake of many who have chosen the path of mononational development.
Igor Avrenev, TSV:
Vadim Nikolayevich, we have already said that there are no more problems now in Moldova, except for how people should pray, what god to believe in. There are those who have started to fight against the Romanian language although before they fought against the Moldovan language. What do you think about this?
The PMR President Vadim Krasnoselsky:
I will express my opinion not as the President, let me do this, but as just a person, as a person who respects history and his neighbors. Of course, there is the Romanian language, there is no escape in fact. This is absolutely normal. There is the state of Romania, it was created, and there is the Romanian language. There is also the Moldovan language, which is more ancient than Romanian. For example, the Moldovan language, all the rulers of Moldova – Stefan the Great, and Alexander the Good, and Vasily the Third, and all the others – they all spoke the Moldovan language and wrote in Cyrillic. This is confirmed: for example, any temple, monastery in Romania – all the icons are in Cyrillic. This is history. Then the state of Romania was created, the Romanian language appeared. No questions, it has the right to exist, but the Moldovan language also has the right to exist. Why did this happen in Moldova? This is their history, this is their path, this is their choice. They rejected the Moldovan language, they rejected the Moldovan script, they rejected Moldovan history. They teach the history of the Romanians. They teach their people on this basis – as they want, raising their heroes, whom I have already named. You cannot fight against language. You cannot fight against Romanian either. In no case. You have to fight for the language, do you understand? We do not have to fight for the Moldovan language here in Pridnestrovie. We have it – the official Moldovan language. It is their business there, let them decide for themselves. You absolutely cannot fight against the Romanian language. It is dangerous. 33 years of Moldova’s independence have already passed. A generation grew up that considers itself Romanians and speaks Romanian during this period of time, when the language was Romanian. It is their choice. Do you want to take away the Romanian language from 30 percent of the population of Moldova? This is wrong probably. Romanian exists, but there is also Moldovan. Therefore, if some groups of people want to remember the Moldovan language, there are public organizations for this, there are cultural societies. There are some benefits, there is the Internet. Please, develop it, what are the problems? There is no need to fight one language for the sake of another. All this should exist in parallel. Capture minds through your Moldovan language, if you think that it still exists in that territory. If not, then again it is their choice. We made our choice. We have the Moldovan language. Moreover, I am convinced that a small number of people who consider themselves Romanians live in the territory of Pridnestrovie. They came to us, they stayed with us, there are family ties, families, and so on. So what? Let there be Romanian in Pridnestrovie as an element, as the 73rd, figuratively speaking, or 72nd nationality, ethnic group. This is absolutely normal. If some people in Pridnestrovie speak Romanian and consider themselves Romanians, no one will fight them. Why? If they have citizenship of Pridnestrovie, I am their President, I am responsible for them and bear responsibility. They are also under my protection definitely, under the protection of the state with their Romanian language. This is absolutely normal. I will say again that there is a Pridnestrovian people, a multinational one. Let them join the Pridnestrovian people. No one is against it. Well, as I already said, just as Romanian has the right to exist, so does Moldovan. They are fighting against the Moldovan language. This is bad. This will end badly.
Alexander Karasev “The Pridnestrovie” newspaper:
Vadim Nikolayevich, a new school year will begin next week, and the issue of whether or not to pass the Unified State Exam remains a topic of discussion among parents and teachers. This issue has already been submitted for discussion to the State Duma in Russia, and there is already a definite opinion somewhere. I would like to know your personal attitude to this form of certification.
The PMR President Vadim Krasnoselsky:
I have already spoken out more than once in principle. I am against the Unified State Exam. I consider that this is the path of globalization, excessive digitalization, and the deprivation of the "teacher-student" contact. This is a mistake. This mistake was made in the Russian Federation. We have Russian educational standards. We could not act differently, because our children will not be able to enter then, for example, Russian universities. I really want the Unified State Exam to be abolished in Russia. This is my personal opinion. As soon as the Unified State Exam is cancelled in Russia, then the Unified State Exam will definitely cease to exist in Pridnestrovie as well. This is my opinion, this will be my decision. I am not alone in this regard by the way: the Minister of Education and other specialists absolutely support this approach. It was impossible to minimize or exclude contact, pure contact between a student and a teacher. You know what is surprising? I look at these people who make these decisions, and I somehow do not understand. After all, you received a classical higher education in the Soviet Union yourselves. You were not some kind of bachelors, masters, you passed a normal exam, chose a normal ticket. What happened to you? What is wrong? Are you bad specialists? Do you think that you were taught poorly? Probably poorly, since you make such decisions. I still count on common sense. The Russian Empire, the Soviet Union always had its own education system that met all the requirements and nuances of a multinational society. Who came up with these masters, these bachelors? I don’t want to put labels on them, but this is short-sighted, to say the least. Short-sighted, wrong. The Unified State Exam is the same. Therefore, I hope for common sense and that sooner or later Pridnestrovie will switch to normal classical educational relations, which have developed over the history of all educational institutions in our region.
Irina Davydenko, Press service of the PMR Supreme Council:
The President submitted 25 legislative initiatives for consideration by the deputy corps during the spring session. Among them there were those that improved road safety in the republic, there were those in the economic sphere, there was a new law on internal affairs agencies, which has already been adopted and will soon come into force. Vadim Nikolayevich, what area of the current legislation requires improvement in the new realities and in connection with new challenges in your opinion? What would you recommend that the Supreme Council, perhaps together with the Government, to pay attention to?
The PMR President Vadim Krasnoselsky:
I plan to hold a large detailed meeting literally on September 5, where the presidiums of the Supreme Council, the Government of the PMR, and heads of state administrations will be. We will discuss these topics. Of course, there are a number of legislations. They may be, let's say, unpopular at first glance, but they are necessary for our society, for our community, for people. Let's say one of them, which, I believe, the deputies did not finish, is the law on violation of traffic rules. There are a lot of complaints about fast driving, illegal parking, crossing solid lines, and so on. What is the responsibility? Weak responsibility, in fact. There are individuals who violate traffic rules 150, 180, 100, 40, 50 times a year. That is, all bets are off. They are systemic violators. They have someone rich or the violator himself is not poor. He pays fines. Sometimes he doesn't pay. The essence doesn't change. He is a systematic offender. What to do with such people? What to do with such people who drive vehicles? Of course, they should be deprived of their licenses. They should be sent to retesting. Naturally, the retesting should not be simple for systematic offenders, but more fundamental. After all, what happens? A vehicle is a means of increased danger. It is life and death, you understand? Life and death. Someone can reach a speed of 200 km per hour, drive through Tiraspol and kill someone. This cannot be done. We must fight for real, half measures will not do here. The situation is better in this regard in Moldova. They have a point system. I look at all those who oppose these ideas and say: how do you travel to Moldova, probably all wear seat belts? They comply with the law of Moldova, it turns out. Why don't you comply with your own Pridnestrovian law then? They probably drive 40 km per hour in certain areas, but they can drive 150 km per hour here? That's wrong. That's not true. I'm for people's lives. Those who are against it say, well, you understand, people will be fined for some reason. Don't break the law. We are not tightening the law for the law-abiding, but for those who break it on the contrary. Completely different philosophies. This is a topic for future discussions. I am saying outright that for the sake of people's lives we must adopt strict discipline. There is a lot of transport. You can't compare how much transport there was, say, under Soviet rule and how much transport there is now in Pridnestrovie. Breaking the law is simply dangerous for people. They probably just have not seen this grief, have not touched upon it, thank God when they say that it is not necessary. I do not wish for this, but when it concerns someone personally, they probably reason differently. It is better not to allow this, it is better to save human lives. This is one direction.
The second area is seemingly nonsense, but probably not nonsense if people are filing complaints. These are domestic animals. Where is a domestic animal, where is a wild animal? Here is a dog that runs around the city – what kind of animal is it? Domestic or wild? Where is the discipline of those owners who keep dogs and then throw them out into the street, turning them into homeless animals, creating a danger to others? There must be a law. The law that clearly sets out all the accents, rights and responsibilities. There are draft laws concerning the budget, the Capital Investment Fund, there are other social laws. There are many of them. I will not name them all now, this is not why we gathered, but nevertheless, everything must be resolved in a dispute, in a discussion, in a normal mode. These issues will 100% be discussed, and the decision will be made by the Supreme Council.
Viktor Savchenko, First Pridnestrovian TV Channel:
Vadim Nikolayevich, you have already touched upon the Soviet period in the history of Pridnestrovie and Moldova. This year is an important date - the centenary of the Pridnestrovian statehood. In October. This is the date of the foundation of the Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. How important is this systemic historical date for us? Will we remember it as an anniversary or will we celebrate it at some systemic level? How important is it for the younger generation to know this, to study this period in our history?
The PMR President Vadim Krasnoselsky:
You need to know your past to think about the future. This is 100%. And to understand the origins of our statehood, why the Moldavian SSR was created in the first place. The Moldavian SSR was created to preserve the nationality of "Moldavian" and the Moldavian ethnos, culture. After all, it was forbidden to speak Russian, Ukrainian, or any other language except Romanian by and large from 1918 to 1940 in neighboring Bessarabia, which was a county of royal Romania. Naturally, the very concept of Moldavian nationality was in great question, one might say, close to destruction. Decision was made to create the MASSR in order to preserve people with their language and culture. This was in 1924. The initiator was Grigory Kotovsky, and the decision was made in Kharkov. This territorial entity existed until 1940, and after the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and the secret protocols, Bessarabia, which was given to the Soviet Union, was annexed to the MASSR. That's the history. We did not come to them. They were annexed to us. The MSSR was created. You know the rest of the history very well. June 23, 1990, then August 27, 1991. The Declaration of Independence, the parliament of the RM recognized the creation of the Moldavian SSR as illegal by a resolution of parliament, thereby demonstrating an act of separatism. They are the separatists by and large. I say this openly. We are not the separatists. What kind of separatists are we? They, established the Romanian language and recognized the creation of the Moldavian SSR as illegal, dividing the Moldavian SSR into two entities by their decision of the highest legal document in Moldova, the Declaration of Independence: Moldova, as the former Bessarabia was called, and Pridnestrovie, as the MASSR was previously called. They de jure renounced the territory of Pridnestrovie.
There are many lawyers now. Among them there are candidates for the presidency of Moldova. They all talk about a common state of the Moldavian SSR. Let them look carefully at history and read their own documents. There is no Moldavian SSR. There is no Moldova within the borders of the Moldavian SSR. They destroyed all this with your own hands. They were given independence, and they destroyed it all. They unleashed a war. They destroyed the entire industrial potential. This is the result. Of course, we need to come to something now. As President, I give lectures to large and small audiences, understanding the importance of history. I give direction to the development and understanding of the history that actually happened, and not the one that was invented. Every word of mine can be verified. I can sign under every word of mine, because it is the truth. The truth is a stubborn thing, as we know.
Yulia Gorlova, “Sputnik” news agency:
A question related to energy security. The contract for the purchase of electricity from the Moldovan hydroelectric power station expires in 4 months. What are the prospects for concluding a new similar contract? Are there any proposals? Maybe some negotiations are already underway?
The PMR President Vadim Krasnoselsky:
Yulia, here is an example when we can come to an agreement with Moldova. I am sure that Moldova is interested in the energy contract normally, pragmatically, calmly, taking into account the interests of all residents living in both Pridnestrovie and Moldova. The price component is a matter for specialists, they negotiate. This is the Inter RAO holding. They take part in this. As President, I create the conditions. This is normal. Therefore, I hope, I say again, for common sense, for interest and for the continuation of the contract.
Natalia Alekseenko, “The New Time” newspaper:
The issue I want to touch on concerns healthcare. Much is being done, medical institutions are being renovated, new ones are opening, medical equipment is being brought in, indeed, but the cost of medical services has increased. In this regard, the question is: How are we going to develop this issue further? Perhaps we will introduce insurance-based medicine in order to make medicine more accessible to those citizens, people who live and work here?
The PMR President Vadim Krasnoselsky:
This is a difficult question, Natalia. I am against insurance-based medicine. Insurance-based medicine does not solve any problems. Examples of this are reforms in other countries, I will not name it. Nothing has changed. What is insurance-based medicine? Insurance-based medicine is a tax on people. Are we ready to introduce an additional tax on people? I think that today this is impossible. This is the first thing.
The second point: companies that are engaged in the insurance business will determine the healthcare system. You understand that the Ministry of Health is the executor, the insurer determines the strategy. I can hardly imagine how it will look in reality. How would we fight a pandemic under such conditions?
The third point is the Constitution of Pridnestrovie, which provides for a form of free medicine. It is not simple, but nevertheless. A person did not effect insurance policy, but he is still obliged to be treated, he must be provided with medical care. We have certain rules on the other hand. We have free and paid medicine. What is the difference? If a person received a referral for a medical service, he goes with this referral, received, say, from his local therapist, to an appointment, receives free medical care, but if a person goes without a referral and says that he wants to take all the tests simply because he wanted to, but does not want to go to a therapist, then there is a system of paid medicine. Every Pridnestrovian receives free medical care upon receiving a referral, everything is very simple in fact.
As for medicine, probably, this is the cornerstone of any state, of course. I have not seen a single state that boasts of its medicine. We watch from the outside and say that Israel and Germany have good healthcare. In fact, if you listen to the Germans and Israelis, they all criticize their healthcare system. It is criticized everywhere, absolutely everywhere.
I will tell you how our system is built. Firstly, this year we were able to modernize our healthcare system and increase material payments, salaries for all medical personnel. We have made a big, good step forward in this direction. That is one point.
The second point is that we are doing repairs, major repairs. 65 million rubles have been allocated this year to improve the healthcare system. This year only. It was much larger funds previously. We have been doing this for seven years. Do you understand? No one has done this before by and large. You remember in what conditions, who was where and how, what the food was, what the provision was. A lot has changed at present. Repairs have been made, the food has been improved, the hospital bed space has been improved. I am speaking from the point of view of functionality. This is not just a hospital bed with a mattress – this is the entire functionality. Let’s move forward. For example, the infectious disease building is being renovated at the Republican Clinical Hospital – a four-story building, a major general renovation is underway. There was no freight or passenger elevator. How is that possible? It was built during the Soviet Union. There is a shaft, but no elevator. Of course, if we are renovating now, we should install these elevators. Nurses carry people on stretchers to the fourth floor. Is that right? This is all the money. The simulation center is also being renovated – it will be both a Department and a branch of the medical faculty of the Pridnestrovian State University. Students will be trained there, and our doctors will receive additional education there. The cardiology department is being renovated, the food block is being renovated. A huge renovation. We are starting to renovate the blood transfusion station. You know what condition it is in. The main building needs to be renovated, but until we complete this stage, we cannot move on to the next one. The finances are really big, global. This is all our money, but there is no other way, we must move forward. Health insurance is of no help here.
As for the treatment, do you remember what was my most important message to health workers? I still stand by this position. It is clear that there are different diseases, systemic ones, people came to us late, and so on. The attitude towards people is the most important thing. A person who entered the health care system should feel a normal, human, kind attitude, sympathy. I demanded this and will demand it. Not only in the health care system. Not only doctors should be like this. All officials, all people in contact with citizens, with society, should be exactly like this from the President to the ordinary official. Not everything can be solved, but there should be one hundred percent participation. I read the mail as the President himself, all mail in electronic and paper form. I can observe the number of complaints that came over a certain period of time from citizens regarding the health care system. I can receive 20-30 complaints in a year, and before it was 200-300. Do you understand? This is also a result. The nutrition has been much better. In addition, we have a system of providing emergency medical care to people who need it outside our republic – for those diseases that cannot be cured today in Pridnestrovie. A striking example is when people are in a pre-infarction condition. The person is taken to Kishinev, we have contracts with private clinics in Kishinev, we save people for free – at the expense of the budget. To date, 1800 operations have been performed. Each operation costs 2000 euros at the expense of the budget. These are saved lives.
We also have a program for endoprosthetics. We implement these programs in Kishinev although we began endoprosthetics of knee and hip joints in the Republican Clinical Hospital. Hundreds of people who need it have already received prostheses. These were disabled people. They could not walk, perform elementary functions. These people were saved.
We have six programs in the line of cardiology, cardiovascular diseases, HIV / AIDS, immunization of the population. A very important program that we launched is hepatitis B and C. Fortunately, hepatitis has become curable; previously, hepatitis C was a death sentence. People died a slow death; there was no treatment. Medicine has reached a level where it can be fought today, thank God. We have a program. We developed a program and financed it from the state budget. More than five hundred people have been cured of hepatitis C to date. Do you understand? These are more than five hundred lives of people, five hundred families. These are people. The decision to implement the program –it is a burden on the budget, yes, it is millions of rubles, but these are people’s lives. There are still more than a thousand on the waiting list, and they can be cured. There are children among them, suffering from hepatitis B and C. We have implemented this program for convicts as well, so that people deprived of their liberty have access to treatment. 117 convicts were receiving treatment, 54 were cured, the rest are in the recovery stage. A person sentenced to imprisonment has acquired a disease that has been a death sentence in fact. Half of them have been cured and removed from the register, the rest are receiving medical care while in prison and will be released as healthy people. Is this wrong? It's all money, of course, money. No one has done this before, they should have done it earlier. There is also an HIV/AIDS program for prisoners and other state programs. Any state program that is widespread in Pridnestrovie provides for the treatment of all persons, including those in prison.
This does not concern health care regarding these persons. If only someone were to be deprived of freedom and sent to prison – this is wrong. I see a different approach. I consider that a person should be deprived of freedom if he is dangerous to society: if he has not repented, is prone to committing a crime. Isolation from society is needed then. If he is sick, then he needs to be treated. A complex topic.
I will give some figures that will probably surprise you nevertheless. When the people entrusted me with governing the state, I was elected President, gathering lawyers, judges, prosecutors, we followed the path of minimizing imprisonment, using the practice of applying parole to prisoners, if a person deserves it, amnesty, pardon from the President. 3600 people were deprived of their liberty as of January 1, 2017. Today, there are about 1200. We have reduced the number threefold. I think this is very right. Do we have a surge in crime at the same time? No. Next year is the 80th anniversary of the Victory of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War and the 35th anniversary of our republic. An amnesty will be declared. I am a supporter of applying amnesty to those who deserve it. To release people. We can't release everyone of course, but we will still reduce the number of people in places of imprisonment.
Another important point. I met with people who are in prison, I told them, “You are absolutely not needed here. Live, wait for the hour when you get out, and you will join our Pridnestrovian society. You are needed outside, you are not needed in prison”. These people are absolutely not needed in prison. We have introduced an education system. People who are in prison can get a profession as a landscaper, a “Spetsavtohozyaistvo” employee, a tractor driver, a welder at present. Do you understand? These people are in great demand. I assure you that municipal services, which are experiencing a shortage of personnel, do not care where you come from. If you have an education, they will take you, and you will receive a decent salary in the professions that I have outlined. We provide this. Those who think about a normal life further, take this and, leaving prison as a healthy person, continue to live in society. They renounce their criminal past and criminal future. Do you understand? There are those who do not refuse, but this is a special topic. There are only a few of them. You have parents, wives, girlfriends, children. Think about them. Get out and live a normal life. We must create conditions, normal conditions for being there. We do this to the best of our ability.
As for health care, we will continue, we will repair, provide, do everything in our power. I will give an example. The children's hospital in Bendery has been renovated. What did it look like before? Panel walls with cracks. My children were there. The maternity hospital in Bendery was the same – the windows were falling out. The food was terrible. There was no hot water. Good repairs have been made today. These are decent medical institutions, this is good food, a good bed, good service, all the achievements of civilization. People from neighboring Moldova come to Bendery, they are not citizens of the PMR, pay a hundred lei for a bed and say, we'd rather pay a hundred lei, but not go to the Aneny or Caushany hospital, we are satisfied with everything here: the attitude, the food, the service, everything that is provided. This is the result. People are already coming to us and paying money to be treated. It is difficult, extensive, expensive, but we will move in this direction. We have no other options.
Natalia Kozhukhar, Radio 1:
Vadim Nikolayevich, continuing the topic, but from a slightly different angle. You mentioned raising salaries for medical workers. The state finds ways to raise salaries for medical workers and teachers despite the difficult economic situation, despite external pressure. Nevertheless, the personnel issue in these areas is acute. Young people are not very willing to take such a difficult path. There are not enough specialists. How else can we improve the social status and prestige of the profession of teachers and doctors in addition to raising salaries? What are we doing in this direction?
The PMR President Vadim Krasnoselsky:
I will tell you this. Since the increase in salaries for medical workers, all the outflow that was going to Moldova has been stopped, and many have returned. That's one. The current staffing level of the healthcare system, in my opinion, is 92%. This is a very decent percentage, I assure you. Of course, we need pinpoint specialists, you know what I'm talking about, especially in children's diseases. There is a medical faculty for this, we do this, of course. We have a contract system, people are required to work the required period of time – three years, five years, depending on the place and conditions of work. We are moving in this direction to solve all these problems with the staffing of medical institutions. With teachers, of course, it is more difficult. We have increased salaries, but this is not enough still, I think. I would be happy, probably, to increase the salaries of all employees several times, but... Of course, this is life, and we try to do everything possible. There are other aspects of social orientation, such as housing, for example. You probably saw yesterday that we opened 11 buildings with 12 apartments, which makes 132 apartments. Affordable housing. I already said, commented, if you count all the unfinished buildings that we put into operation as residential premises, we have already provided about a thousand apartments to public sector workers. This is great, this is the path that strengthens young families. In addition, the system is built in such a way that even if there are two public sector employees in a family, they take out a long-term loan and can afford this housing for their salary. It was hard to imagine this before, frankly speaking. It was impossible to imagine it at all. There is a system of certificates. More than 130 certificates have been issued to public sector employees to date, including young families, for the purchase of housing – the rate is subsidized by the state. These are the areas that we, as they say, are mastering and see value in them. Naturally, it is necessary in addition to equip the workplace itself, so that a doctor or teacher does not go into a "barn". So that there is a workplace – beautiful and interesting, with new equipment. So that schools are renovated, kindergartens are renovated. This is what we are doing. We have renovated and built anew more than 550 municipal and state facilities in total during the existence of the Capital Investment Fund, if we talk about it. To understand what 550 facilities are. A university – this is one facility. You see, right? One object. All buildings – A, B, this year we will be commissioning building C – this is one object. For example, the infectious diseases hospital is one object. It is clear what expenses there are, right? At the same time, the feldsher-midwife station is also one object. It is all subjective. One and a half billion rubles have been invested in development, in repairs only from the Capital Investment Fund. This is a big deal, this is what secures young people. The Pridnestrovian university gives Russian diplomas. Repairs, the repair base, replacement of all equipment, replacement of all furniture, all computers – this is also what secures young people here, in Pridnestrovie. It is impossible unfortunately to embrace everything and give everything at once in 7-8 years, but the direction is clear, and we are mastering it. We opened the archives yesterday or the day before yesterday – a new building. We think about Pridnestrovie, we believe in Pridnestrovie. The archives are being replenished, Pridnestrovie has been alive for 34 years. Why was there no building for the archives, why were they where they were before? The archives in such conditions could not be maintained due to safety precautions and storage conditions. Here you go, a new building, 14 million rubles – this is for repairs, for equipment, fortification, for millions of storage units. It will all be filled. Probably, you saw the picture – everything is reliable, and practical, and interesting. We opened the stadium, the first part. The city stadium, where children, students and so on will study. We will continue to move in this direction.
I would like to focus on a very important topic, which concerns healthcare in some ways, but in some ways indirectly, and not indirectly in others. This is the attitude towards people with limited mobility, who suffer from certain illnesses from birth with special needs, so to speak. They exist in every society. You can have different attitudes towards the state, but you need to look at how they treat people who have certain illnesses – cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, autism, and so on. We have made a huge step forward. We built a sports center in Tiraspol, which has no analogues in Moldova, maybe there are no such analogues in Russia, and there are definitely no such analogues in Ukraine. We built one in Bendery, in Rybnitsa, in Dubossary. We are renovating special schools for these children. A municipal special kindergarten for such children was opened yesterday after reconstruction. The capacity is 100 people. It just needed to be rebuilt. That is approximately how it was. Two buildings, designed for 100 people. There are 42 people there. Thank God there are 42 people. Children finish kindergarten, then school. There is also a specialized school for such children. What next? This is also a problem. I encountered it when considering complaints from citizens. A person suffers from cerebral palsy or Down syndrome. The person turns 18. What next? He finishes a specialized school, and that's it, period. Thank God when there are parents – alive and well. Time takes its toll, parents get old, parents need to solve their own problems, also with treatment, they themselves can go to the hospital. They can leave forever. These people are left alone. Do you understand? A difficult topic. These people are extremely hard. So we discussed how to get out of the situation, what to do next? Such people are everywhere, but no one tries to pay attention to them. I even know the numbers, I will not name them. An idea came up. There is a closed school with three buildings en route to Sukleya. We are allocating next year 10 million rubles to replace the roof, tighten the utilities, update them, and replace the windows. Specifically for people who suffer from certain illnesses but are not mentally dangerous to society (if dangerous, there are appropriate institutions). These citizens can be kept there from the age of 18. Either permanently or temporarily. Even if parents are raising their child, but they need to go somewhere for a while, get treatment, they can send their child to this center, and he will be there. It must be a rehabilitation center. For example, we built a center from scratch in Dubossary, equipped with all possible equipment – medical, developmental, special physical procedures are organized that improve the condition. The new center should also have everything. There is a hectare of land: this is an introduction to work naturally, some flowerbeds, some workshops will be organized there. This is a lot of work. This is a big direction. It requires money, but this must be done. No one will do anything for us. We will take one step next year, then in 2026, maybe we will take the last step and finish this hospital, the rehabilitation center in this form. I want to address the people who are raising children with intellectual disabilities, with cerebral palsy and so on. We have a wonderful sports center in Tiraspol, wonderful gyms, wonderful physical education specifically for such children, for such people. Children of different ages and adults can do it. We have a well-established practice of delivering these citizens to this center, specially purchased vehicles for the disabled. Two or three times a week you can visit this center, work out with a trainer and get good results. I am sure that many diseases can be cured by physical education and sports. There are many such examples. If a child could not raise his hand before, he can provide himself with basic movements by doing it in the center. This was built here, in Tiraspol. We need to visit, we need to advertise them because sometimes I come across the fact that people do not know for some reason, although we show and tell. That is, this also requires advertising. Therefore, we should not be lazy, our media should go to such centers and show them, advertise them to people. They are all absolutely free. The most important thing is that a person suffering from any disease not only does therapeutic exercise, but also communicates, joins society. We are all together. They are the same as us. It happened that way, the Lord ordered it that way for some reason, you understand, I don’t know. I will not speculate on why it happens that way. It’s such a difficult thing, but we cannot do without it either nevertheless. We must allocate funds and build this center among other things no matter how difficult it is.
Alla Ivanchenko, “News of Pridnestrovie” News Agency:
Vadim Nikolayevich, you held two meetings with the Ambassador at Large of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Rogovey at the end of 2023 – beginning of 2024. Nothing has been heard about diplomatic contacts since then, at least for the media. Is there any interaction? If so, what areas of activity does it concern?
The PMR President Vadim Krasnoselsky:
Well, we don't make any secrets. Mr. Rogovey is the Special Representative for Pridnestrovie. We are in dialogue. Of course, there is a connection for emergencies. Mr. Rogovey in principle always talks about peace, without any aggression and guarantees peace for Pridnestrovie on his part as far as his competence allows by and large. This is important. You never know what happens in life. Of course, there are contacts, and we use these contacts to, again, maintain peace and security in the region as a whole.
Alexander Karasev, “The Pridnestrovie” newspaper:
Vadim Nikolayevich, we all witnessed such an event as the transfer of buses to small schools in the districts. Of course, it is a good deed. Of course, the quality of education will improve, and life in general will improve for both teachers and for all auxiliary activities. Yes, the very picture of such buses driving along rural roads also means a lot. Tell me, please, is there such a program in the cities? Will the transport fleet be updated? Not necessarily trolleybuses, which are outdated, but so that people in our capital, and in Bendery, and in other cities can see it.
The PMR President Vadim Krasnoselsky:
As for municipal transport programs, these are trolleybuses, minibuses. Each head is concerned about this problem, allocating funds as much as possible, of course. Bendery has bought 4 electric buses - 2 minibuses, 2 tourist. Tiraspol is also concerned about this.
Regarding the picture you saw – 17 school buses. I will touch on the topic of rural areas, rural regions a little. A third of our population lives in rural areas. Of course, there are schools in rural areas, but a problem arises. There are fully staffed schools in large settlements, in large villages, and there are no problems there – neither with teaching, nor with students, but there are schools where there is one person in the sixth grade, no one in the seventh, two in the eighth, and one more in the tenth. Well, for example, there is a primary school. There are 10-12 people in a primary school, let's say. Well, and the service staff. There are about 35 people Together with the teachers. The physical education teacher teaches physics together with the students, and the biology teacher studies English, or vice versa, because there are not enough teachers in rural areas. This is true, and this is absolutely obvious. We think, what can we do? Such schools have long been cut everywhere in fact – in Russia, and in Ukraine, and in neighboring Moldova, there are simply no such schools. A decision was made, if such situations exist, to leave primary schools everywhere, of course. Primary schools must be from the first to the fourth grade in rural areas without fail. The remaining classes, 5-6 people, together with teachers, must be taken to another rural school, which is located in a rural area. Not a city school – an important point, but still, to a rural school, because it is rural education that is being formed and the rural way of life is being preserved. I consider that the village actually forms traditions, not the city In general, but that is not what we are talking about now. Yes. We got together (again, the government, the Supreme Council), the Ministry of Education presented a program, we reviewed all these schools with all the heads, listened to all the proposals in advance, at the beginning of this year. The heads proposed to buy 17 buses. Some of them need 4, some need one, some need 2, some need 5, to ensure logistics. This is not just like that, they just took it out of the blue and distributed it. A lot of work was done. We made a presentation in this very hall, we looked, made a decision in order to preserve rural education, preserve it. If we do not do this, it will end. We want to preserve it. We are developing a very good direction in terms of comprehensive schools – these are "kindergarten - school" complexes. Imagine a kindergarten, children up to seven years old in the building, and in the same building an elementary school. What is an elementary school? It is a school with one teacher. Four classes, four teachers. Among them is the director, the head teacher, and so on. Do you understand? This is minimizing the cost of saving budget funds. This is convenience. This is preserving the school. Kamenka district is a good example. The elementary school and the kindergarten are all complexes there. This is a connection. The kindergarten is separate from the school, but everything together is an elementary school in one village there. This is great, because we are doing repairs there, one kitchen, one director, one head teacher. The educational process. BUSES are to improve, of course, logistics. These are not the last buses. We will continue to move in this direction. In 2021, we already bought buses, now we have bought them again. Moreover, I am driven by another idea. Of course, to preserve rural education, but the main thing is to provide a complete, good secondary education to our citizen. Do you understand? What other education should be provided in addition to secondary education? Additional education, sports, music education, in the arts, dance, and so on. At will. There is no way around it. That is exactly what we do - we buy buses, improve logistics, this is what it implies. That is, a person is brought to the center, it already exists there, and he receives additional education. They picked up the child in the morning, brought the child in the evening, and he received an education there – general and any additional education of his, so to speak, choice. That's all. This is one of the areas of preserving the village, and we are doing this. In general, if we talk about rural areas, I will also touch on this topic. The topic is huge. There are three areas. This is, of course, the development of agriculture, that is, food self-sufficiency in Pridnestrovie as I say. The second area is the development of territories: these are schools, kindergartens, libraries, roads, infrastructure, and so on. The third is rural tourism, which already closes the chain, so to speak, of relations with the countryside. Of course, schools, I told you about. Everyone can see that the Houses of Culture are being renovated. Of course, we would like more. Again, as best we can. I assure you, our goal is to renovate all the Houses of Culture in our republic. What is a House of Culture? It is a gathering center for the entire village. Each House of Culture has a lot of clubs, classes, and sports activities. Gyms are organized there, not to mention the use of Houses of Culture in the life of rural areas. Of course, the development of agriculture. I will talk about it separately. Remember, back in 2017 I said: “There will come a time when it will be difficult to buy something outside our country even for money”. Such times have come unfortunately. The pandemic is proof of this. There were huge problems with supplies at a certain stage. Of course, there are the military actions in Ukraine, which have broken, excuse me, many logistics chains. We are well-provided for now. Did this just fall out of nowhere? No. This is precisely the development of agriculture. I will give some examples. I have already said this more than once by 2017, we had slightly less than nine thousand hectares of land under irrigation. What is irrigated land? This is all vegetable growing, these are stone fruit orchards, this is the production of this technology. It is impossible to do without it. We already have 35 thousand hectares under direct irrigation today, implementing the melioration program in Pridnestrovie. 40 thousand hectares – this figure was decisive, and it will be overcome next year. That is, 40 thousand hectares is no longer a problem. 67 aggregate stations for pumping water have been completely repaired or newly built. You probably see that the lakes are full, the canals are full. Of course, this is a big step forward. Our farmers survived this year's drought thanks to irrigation and received, in principle, good harvests. There would have been big problems without this irrigation. I remember in 2017 I went to the Green Market and asked where the tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, ratundas were from. They were all pulled from Ukraine. Now everything is ours. We have a lot of enterprises that grow their own products. I will even name them. I apologize in advance to those who work in rural areas that I cannot name all of them, but nevertheless, the most advanced ones, probably. Vegetables of "Fix" from Ternovka. They grow vegetables for 85 percent of the needs of the entire Pridnestrovie. One organization it would seem. With the right approach, with the right irrigation. Vegetables of "Fix" are very good. For example, the meat-packing plant in Bendery – this is also an agricultural direction, this is pork growing, production, food products. Of course, this is "Blagoda", which rose from scratch and now supplies Pridnestrovie with dairy products, fermented milk products, cheeses, and sausages, including its own meat delicacies by and large. Of course, this is "Sheriff" agroholding – these are bakeries, this is land cultivation, these are vineyards, without which "Kvint" would have ceased to exist. This is the sturgeon complex and many areas that the agroholding "Sheriff" is developing in this area by and large. For example this is Platsynda Stepan Ivanovich, The name of his organization is "Agrokompakt". He literally turned 70 yesterday, I congratulated him. We should only look up to such people. These are intensive gardens, these are our fruits, our vegetables, this is export, this is currency. We can cite many as an example. I would like to thank them very much and bow low to them for ensuring food security and providing quality food products to the residents of our Pridnestrovie. Of course, there is enough for export. May God grant them health and prosperity. We will help as much as we can. How do we help? Well, the prices, of course, for energy resources. Water for irrigation is 1 ruble 10 kopecks. The cost price of water, mind you, is 7 rubles. This is not free. We pay extra for this water. The state fully covers the difference to water supply organizations. Agricultural producers pay 1 ruble 10 kopecks, and the state pays up to 7 rubles. This is assistance. We provide agricultural producers with good long-term loans, inexpensive. We subsidize the purchase of cattle heifers and so on. All this goes to development. The state pays a ruble for every liter of milk donated. A ruble. This is serious money if 10, 15, 20 thousand liters of milk are donated to one organization. You see, loans are paid for this money. We have no other way. We must be self-sufficient in this regard. We must be self-sufficient in any regard in general, but food independence is probably number one. Problems arise with transfers, with currency, and so on. Of course, we must focus on our own producer, and purchase what we need, of course. Nevertheless, we must help restore our production. We have achieved good results. If by January 1, 2017 our dairy products accounted for 25% of the total demand, now it is 65%. This is a serious result. This also applies to pork, beef, vegetables - I think 95%, and if you take private individuals who sell at the market, it is more than 100%. I do not even doubt it. We need to think about this, and invest, and develop, and help those who work the land. We are creating a powerful cluster of peasant farms – these are families who work and live on the land. The Bolsheviks called them kulaks, destroyed them. This was also a stage, unfortunately, such a stage in our history. About seven million kulaks were either destroyed or deprived of work. We are restoring all this. Thank God. Because the state always rests on such people. God bless them and prosperity for Pridnestrovie as a whole.
Alexander Lagutin, RIA Novosti:
Vadim Nikolayevich, let me return to security issues. We had two drone attacks on military units in the spring. Are there any results of the investigation? Has Interpol responded, where we applied? Is there a risk of new provocations and terrorist attacks now in general? Moldovan representatives say in the course of the Joint Control Commission meeting, that there are no threats, and the checkpoints should be removed from the streets.
The PMR President Vadim Krasnoselsky:
Representatives of the Moldovan side are being disingenuous. About 10 terrorist attacks have been committed on the territory of Pridnestrovie. All are being investigated. Many criminal cases have been sent to court with specific individuals identified who committed this or that terrorist attack. People have been sentenced to different terms of imprisonment. Well, the Moldovan side takes a very narrow-minded position – denial. We know that all this happened. Our law enforcement agencies, with their actions, have prevented and warned many dangerous situations, saved people from death. This is also a fact. Therefore, they can say whatever they want, and we will do everything for the safety of our citizens. There are always risks. Who can cancel them? We live in such conditions. We must understand this and be prepared. You understand, there are military actions in the neighboring state. This is a disaster in fact. I have said this more than once. I am against wars and a pacifist at heart. I do not like violence and call on everyone only for peace. I am ready for defense and protection, of course. Do not even doubt it. Let this be just a precautionary measure that we will never apply. If we talk about this disaster, war, military actions, I will repeat once again, although I know that my opinion, which I expressed in March 2022, may not suit everyone. It may not even suit either side of this conflict. I consider that this is a huge geopolitical problem that has serious historical roots since the Bolsheviks unleashed the civil war in 1918, it has, unfortunately, been going on to this day. There was a period when there was no civil war. That was literally 25 years, not much. From 1955-1960 to 1987. The weakness of the leadership and the rotten party of the Soviet Union, which led to a surge of nationalism. This virus of nationalism began to eat away at someone's remaining brain, and that's it, conflicts broke out, civil wars are ignited again on the territory of the former Soviet Union. What we have is a continuation. When empires collapse, wars are inevitable. The Russian Empire collapsed, the Soviet Union collapsed, the Roman Empire collapsed, the Byzantine Empire collapsed. How long did the conglomerates of these empires fight among themselves? 300 years. The same thing. Of course, it should have been prevented. Definitely it was necessary to negotiate. After all, any war ends in peace. There are no examples of wars lasting millions of years. Wars end in peace anyway. They will sit down and come to an agreement anyway. That is why I am always for peace. I always say, well then let's not drag it out there, but we need to come to an agreement here. Stop this killing of people. I feel sorry for all the people who die there. Both military and civilians. I generally love people, I love people in general. I love my neighbor as a Christian. How to look at death? Someone else is happy about it. It is in an unchristian way, against faith and against human nature. We are in such conditions. It would be stupid to think that this will not affect us at all. Stupid. When a fire is burning nearby, and you are running near it, at the very least it is hot, you understand? You can still catch fire. We must be prepared for this. Nevertheless, we are creating conditions for living here. I will give you another example. We have registered refugees from Ukraine who have been registered, 285 thousand people. These are those who came here, lived here for a month, two, three, four, five and moved on. More than 45 thousand of them stayed for permanent residence. That's it. They are already ours. Do you see them? No. I don't notice them. Because they have merged with our Pridnestrovian society. We have never had a single conflict with refugees from Ukraine. When they show these terrible pictures, when different situations arise. I don't know. I look - it's probably true, but we don't have anything like that, thank God, you understand? Children go to our schools, to our kindergartens, we have Ukrainian schools. We create conditions. We have a lyceum, a school, a gymnasium with Ukrainian as the language of instruction. There are Russian schools with Moldovan as the language of instruction. We have, as far as I remember, 42 Moldovan or mixed kindergartens. In my opinion, 25 with the Moldovan language and 16 or 17 mixed kindergartens. We have 10 purely Moldovan schools, and 25-26 mixed ones in my opinion. Anyone can get an education in the Moldovan language in principle. Yes, languages cannot be banned. Neither the Moldovan language, nor the Ukrainian language, nor the Russian language can be banned. Non of the languages can be banned.
This spirit of Pridnestrovie is probably close to the people, you know. People came here for peace, they want to live in peace, thank God. It is bad that it turned out this way, but it is good that they came to us. I always say this. We are waiting for everyone and will help as much as possible the people who decided to stay here. Let them live. I am not against it. No one is against it. The Pridnestrovian people are not against it.
In addition, we have helped people legislatively. Any refugee from Ukraine can get a job, even without a work record. We provide free education – school, preschool, additional education, free meals. We create normal conditions to all those who came from Ukraine and are registered as refugees. Vehicles do not require additional registration. They drive on Ukrainian license plates, and everyone can see perfectly well. This is the spirit of Pridnestrovie. These are our Pridnestrovian people. That is why it was like this and it will definitely be like this.
Please, look, if it concerns propaganda, take the television broadcasting network. We have all the Ukrainian, all the Russian channels. Where is this? Well, where in the world is there such a thing, that there are all the Ukrainian and Russian channels? There is no such thing anywhere. All the political programs are shown. Please, let people watch and draw their own conclusions – for God's sake. Well, I have drawn my own conclusions and I consider that this is how things have historically developed. We must finally and irrevocably think about peace, work for peace. Listen to some provocateurs. They are provocateurs, why listen to them? That is their job.
Lyudmila Soltan, “The Adevarul Nistryan” newspaper:
As for tourism, we do a lot for this. There is a lot of support: cashback, subsidies. Our infrastructure is developing, jobs are being created. People have questions as usual: why, we will not attract tourists now, given the political situation, it would be better to redirect this money somewhere.
The PMR President Vadim Krasnoselsky:
When they ask the question - why, I always say, why should we clean the streets, sweep the garbage, why should we remove the grass that has been falling for years, why should we remove the snow, treat people, teach children. Why? Probably, it is not the time. I do not understand this position of some citizens. I am the President for all citizens. I do not have my or others. I know that there is an opinion. This is normal. I am trying, so to speak, to refute this opinion. Well, firstly, our tourist flow has increased. Increased and increased several times, probably, but in order to engage in tourism at all (there are various jokes about this, but I will not tell them), you first need to create conditions where people will come. You can’t say: we are engaged in tourism, we are waiting for them. But no one knows where to come. Therefore, we are developing tourist infrastructure, naturally. These are beautiful parks, beautiful historical places, beautiful objects, this is infrastructure, these are hotels, these are catering establishments. This is logistics. I look at how things really are. Things are not bad when on a weekend there are 10 buses from Moldova standing in a square in Tiraspol, 15 buses from Moldova standing in a fortress in Bender. Do you understand? These people who come here, they can tell them anything about Pridnestrovie on TV, zombie-box: about the separatists, about the evil ones, that everyone here is in pillboxes, in barbed wire... But these people came here with their children, they enjoyed what they saw here. They found themselves in a good society. By the way, I talked to them. I talked specifically with people of Moldovan nationality, with Moldovans. They come and say that they are immersed in the Moldavian SSR: "We remember what was good. We are pleased to hear different languages. We are pleased with how they treat us". Tourism is already a little different here. Not just to come to the fortress, but to immerse yourself in society. That's how we created it. We created the Pridnestrovian people, created this society – interesting, kind, normal, well-mannered, and the entire infrastructure. I'm glad that people come to us. I am sure that when there is no war, there will be many more tourists. It should be so.
Of course, if we talk about the economy, I assure you, it is worth it. They all fill up at gas stations, taxes are paid on this. They buy our food products at the Green Market and elsewhere. This is also part of the wealth of our citizens. They ask for excursions, this is also wonderful. This is super, great. We are building a museum quarter here – both for our own people and for tourists, for foreign citizens. A large flow of tourists from Italy has begun to Pridnestrovie. Germans are coming. Do you know what they say? They say it. Not me. Although I will sign up for these words. They say, "You have a territory of common sense here. You are like an ark with your values, culture, languages. We are comfortable here". Although these people came from far abroad. This is also something to be proud of, something to protect if necessary. We protect ourselves, our safety, our lives. We do not lay claim to any of our neighbors' territories. We do not need to occupy. Those who say that we are dangerous, they are dangerous themselves. They must think about how to live on and preserve peace. We do it. When people come to us, they confirm it. There was a concert in the Sani Kroitor fortress recently. 2300 people attended the concert. Tickets cost 150 rubles. There were many tourists from Moldova and from far abroad. Those who were there noted that many sang songs in Moldovan, in Russian, and how people danced. It was a show. The show that emphasized the soul of our people. I talked to people who came from Moldova. They say that they ended up in the Moldavian SSR and hear the Moldavian language. Language shapes culture and customs. They sang songs that were supposedly invented by the "occupiers" - the Soviet Union. They sing them now. Everyone sings them. What occupiers? On the contrary. Of course, tourism is an important element of popularizing Pridnestrovie. We need to do this always.
Ekaterina Poshelyuk, press service of the PMR Defense Ministry:
The Ministry of Defense, in addition to its main function – protecting the state, performs another important function – social. This is the education of young defenders – cadets of the Military Institute, Suvorov cadets, and in general the youth of our republic. "The Dniester Dawns" health complex on your initiative has already become a center of attraction for children and youth of the republic. Various gatherings and forums are held there. A new gathering was held in Pridnestrovie this year. The number of participants increased by a third, the movement is expanding, replenished with new people. What is planned to be done in the future within the state in this direction within the framework of the health complex for children and youth?
The PMR President Vadim Krasnoselsky:
Well, I think that we have very good worthy youth in Pridnestrovie if we are talking about youth in general. I love the youth. I feel them. I have not rolled away from them far, let's say so. It would probably be normal in connection with age. I have children. My daughter is 13, the other children are older. I already have two grandchildren. A grandson is going to school in Tiraspol. Another is growing up. I hear what they talk about. I watch what they read. This is an important point. What they watch on TV. I have a picture, a very good picture of the Pridnestrovian youth namely. I do not understand those people who say that the youth today is not what it used to be. What kind of youth you made, that's what you got, sorry. The youth does not grow up on its own. It is precisely the older generation that brings up the youth. Look even in Moldova. Who talks about war, about Nazism? These are people, excuse me, 65-70 years old. The youth do not talk about this in Moldova. The youth in Moldova do not want to fight with Pridnestrovie. They categorically do not need it. Older people for some reason have some Napoleonic ambitions, they need to fight with someone, kill someone. So the question is not for the youth, the question, is for you, the older generation. Who destroyed the Soviet Union? Did the youth destroy the Soviet Union? No, they did not. The youth – the victims of the collapse of the Soviet Union. It was these old senile fools, excuse me, called the rotten Communist Party of the Soviet Union who did the collapse. They destroyed our Motherland, do you understand? They stole our Motherland – from me, from the youth, I was a young man then, they stole my Motherland from me. How should I treat them? How should I treat the younger generation? I love the youth. They are a good future for Pridnestrovie. In general, if you take the youth, no matter how much the president instills in us, and the militia draw up a report for some offense, it’s all secondary. We need to build a society so that the society itself would educate the younger generation. That's what happened with us, but it's not a miracle. This is the life of the Pridnestrovian people. Young people consider it good enough or on point as they say to study well, lead a sporty lifestyle, play sports, get a musical education, go to art school. It's not on point to smoke, abuse alcohol, and so on. It's very rare when you're driving in Tiraspol, Bendery, or other cities and districts to see a young man walking and smoking. Well, that's rare. It was total and rampant, but not anymore. There is none of that. This is an element of education. This is youth. We need to educate the youth – how do you even imagine it? This is the wrong approach – to educate the youth. The family educates. That's one thing, right? Of course, the school also educates. The president comes, figuratively speaking, and starts educating. No, we must create the conditions here. Conditions for young people. One of the conditions is the beauty that is, in principle, created. These are parks, cultural events. For example, Catherine Park, or the Fortress in Bendery, or another park in every city, in every district. Every weekend – cultural events. Every one. Rock, symphony orchestra, theater, family, and so on. That’s it. That’s education. It educates society. We must create conditions for this. And here’s the question, why should we do this? Why should we build museums? Why should we build parks? Why should we improve infrastructure? For the education of young people. One more thing. Maybe you haven’t noticed, but I have. Communicating, again, with both parents and young people, I’ll tell you now, maybe you’ve also noticed this. Here’s a person finishing school in Pridnestrovie and going to study in Russia. They practically went away because nothing suited them. There were no parks, there was broken asphalt, there were no sports grounds, there were no normal, interesting catering establishments, there were no leisure centers where you could meet people with the same interests. Do you understand? So, they saw Moscow, the lights, the beautiful bulbs. They went there and that was it – they went away from here. Everything is somehow different now. I am not even talking about the fact that our university has been renovated. We give Russian diplomas. All this is normal. We have places that we give to young people. You and I grew up differently. We did not feel this beauty. They are growing up in beauty now. Do you understand? When children leave for Russia because mom and dad want to or he wants to study there, it does not matter, they leave with longing and is eager to come back here, for the holidays and to come here in general. Because they brought up in a beautiful place, it was his first love, these are first dates, these are beautiful places, you understand? This already has an impact on the psyche and an impact on upbringing. That's it. It's all a big complex. I can talk about this for another two hours, but I won't. As for health recreation, well, of course, we are on the right track. By the way, I always say a big thank you to the Minister of Defense and the personnel of the Ministry of Defense for taking on such a big social burden called "The Dniester Dawns". After all, it was already going into oblivion by and large. It would have been destroyed. To date, more than two thousand children have vacationed there during the summer health season alone. Two thirds of these are at the expense of the state, the state subsidizes the vouchers. In total, about four and a half thousand people have vacationed in Pridnestrovian children's health camps. Two thirds are subsidized by the state. Yes, we must create the conditions. Now repairs have been made in "The Dniester Dawns" so that children who came for a health holiday receive health, and do not survive in some incomprehensible conditions. That's all. So we will move on. There is also a need to repair the canteen, there is still something to do there. We are at the finish line already. In addition, our pensioners receive health procedures there on vouchers, and they are also very happy from September to May. Good food, good service, good medicine. Everyone is happy. This requires spending money. In principle, everything that I have just outlined, how many problems, something needs to be spent everywhere. I have always said that we have a market economy, but we are socially oriented. The form is correct, in my opinion. When you allow a person to develop, pay taxes, and use these taxes for people. This is how we should live. We need to work with the youth. Not educate them as an educator, but work with the youth. Create conditions for them. They will appreciate and understand it. I am sure of it.
Well, basically, we discussed some topics. Probably not everything. I hope it was interesting, I hope I answered complex questions in simple language. I answered honestly.
I would like to highlight once again the main achievement of Pridnestrovie on the eve of the 34th anniversary of the formation of our state the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic. This is the Pridnestrovian people. The Pridnestrovian people generate everything else: peace, security, economy, and normal living conditions. I want to wish the Pridnestrovian people, all of you, development, beauty, love, health, peace. Thank you for the dialogue.
