Autonomous republic miffed over Moldovan border restrictions
TIRASPOL ,Transdniester – For nearly a decade ,Moldova`s breakaway republic of Transdniester has been running things its own way. It has its own flag, its own currency, its own president and its own military.
Unlike Moldova, Transdniester has not privatized its enterprises, it has not removed the Lenin statue from outside the parliament building, and it has not replaced Soviet passports.
While Moldova relies on agriculture, Transdniester has a well-developed industrial base, which exports everything from electricity to sausages.
Or at least it did until Moldova tightened border controls following its entrance into the World Trade Organization in September, causing what Transdniester authorities call an economic blockade.
On Sept. 1, Moldova revoked all customs stamps bearing the Transdniester Moldovan Republic insignia and stopped shipments from entering or exiting the region.
For one month Transdniester, a 4,000-square-kilometer sliver of land that borders southwestern Ukraine, was unable to import or export goods. Last month Moldova began allowing limited shipments to cross the border, but only through specific checkpoints. Moldova had imposed a customs tax on Transdniester, and officials wanted to make sure that the taxes were being paid.
On Nov. 9 Moldovan president Vladimir Voronin stepped up control over the feisty republic when he and his Ukrainian counterpart, Leonid Kuchma, agreed to develop joint customs and border regulations aimed at stopping smugglers. The details of the pact were expected to be announced Nov. 19.
Moldovan officials claim they are only trying to clamp down on smuggling, which runs rampant in Transdniester. But Tiraspol officials think the restrictions are related to a decade-long dispute between Moldova and its break-away neighbor.
Transdniester government officials, who say they were not consulted prior to the changes, see the clampdown as a threat to the republic’s sovereignty. They are indignant about having to pay a fee to Moldova each time they export a product to Ukraine.
The situation has caused unease in Transdniester. Yury Ganin, Transdniester’s deputy industry minister, estimates that the territory has lost $15 million in the last two months alone. If the blockade continues, Ganin predicted that the region’s economy would crumble.
The no man’s land everyone wants
Transdniester, born after the collapse of the Soviet Union, is on the left bank of the Dniester river, and Moldova is on the right side. The river separates Moldova from Transdniester geographically, culturally and ideologically.
Throughout history the two sides have gone in different directions; Moldova has leaned west toward Romania, and Transdniester pulled east toward Russia and Ukraine.
In 1918 when the west bank came under Romanian control, the eastern bank became a part of Ukraine. When Ukraine became part of the Soviet Union, the east bank became the autonomous Republic of Moldova under Soviet control. In 1939, when the Soviet Union took over the chunk of Moldova surrounding Chisinau, the two areas merged into one republic.
After the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1989, Moldova made Romanian its official language. Fearing that Moldova would join Romania, separatist forces on the east bank declared the area independent and established the Transdniester Moldovan Republic.
Tension in the area rose in 1992 when civil war broke out between the two sides, resulting in more than 1,000 deaths. Political conflict has dogged the area ever since.
Transdniester considers itself a separate country and wants Moldova to recognize its sovereignty. Moldova considers Transdniester part of Moldova.
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe has been mediating the conflict almost from the beginning.
During Soviet times, the USSR’s 14th army was based in the region and today close to 1,500 of its troops, plus a large cache of weapons and ammunition remain. Russia and Ukraine are further entangled in the region because of the ethnic Russian and Ukrainians who form a majority of the population in Transdniester.
In 1992 a peace, of sorts, was negotiated, and several times a year, the sides meet to try to hammer out a solution that both Transdniester and Moldova can live with. Eduard Gurvits, a Ukrainian deputy, participated in the talks for more than half a decade. He no longer bothers.
“No one ever seemed to be interested in solving the problem,” Gurvits said.
Over the years several agreements and treaties have been signed. The most notable being the Russian agreement to withdraw its troops and supplies by 2002, and the 1997 agreement that proclaimed Transdniester and Moldova
| Transdniester President Igor Smirnov |
equal states with equal rights.
But following Moldova’s takeover of the borders and Transdniester’s withdrawal from discussions this fall, relations are strained again.
Books, blood and blockade
Valery Glushkov, director of Kirov, the largest metal-casting factory in Moldova and Transdniester, used to have a booming business shipping products across the border. But since the blockade his shipments have been substantially reduced. For a month his trucks stood idle unable to cross the border. Eventually his suppliers stopped shipments in frustration and customers canceled orders.
In October, Glushkov was able to resume about half of his exports. In addition to the Transdniester customs tax that he has always paid, he must now pay an additional Moldovan tax. After $200,000 in losses due to the blockade in September, he can’t afford to pay the tax.
He fears the factory could close by the first of the year.
The Kirov warehouses are filled with machines that no longer work. Mykhailo Dorokh, head of production at Kirov, pointed to a large mass of metal pipes. Two workers sat next to the boot-making machine, tinkering with the apparatus. The heap of metal is bound for Russia. It has already been tested, and it is ready to go. But Dorokh must wait.
He isn’t the only one. Academic institutions receive the majority of their books and supplies from abroad. Dniester State University is still waiting for 2,000 books it ordered at the start of the school year.
A shortage of blood plasma, which is not produced in Transdniester, caused a more serious problem in mid-September. Doctors had to do blood transfusions, a more complicated procedure, because plasma was not available.
Still Transdniester President Igor Smirnov isn’t worried. A former factory director, Smirnov is a big man with bushy gray eyebrows and a broad chest. His likeness is seen on calendars, in portraits across the capital and on the inside flap of his own book.
He believes that Transdniester is already an independent country. Smirnov will run for re-election on Dec. 9. For him the economic blockade is a ploy instigated by Moldova’s president.
“I think Voronin wants to use our profits and industry to save his own presidency,” Smirnov said.
During Soviet times Transdniester produced 80 percent of Moldova’s gross national product. Smirnov claims that Voronin wants to get his hands on Transdniester’s industry to boost his country’s economic production and his own popularity.
Across the river the story is different.
Cheap smokes
Oleksandr Bezhenar, Voronin’s press secretary, thinks the whole economic blockade was created by Smirnov to help him in the upcoming election by drumming up anti-Moldovan sentiment.
The reason for the original withdrawal of custom stamps in September was simple: In 1996 Moldova agreed to issue Transdniester temporary customs stamps to be used at its borders. When Moldova revoked the stamps in September, it found 350 counterfeit versions.
Bezhenar explained that the counterfeit stamps made it possible for smugglers to get whatever they wanted into and out of the country. To gain international credibility, Moldova decided it needed to be accountable for everything that passed through its borders, including products that entered through Transdniester.
Moldova claims that many smuggled products pass through Transdniester on their way to Ukraine’s neighboring port city of Odessa. Eduard Gurvits, who served as Odessa mayor until 1998, remembered many “unpleasant moments” involving smuggling. Cigarettes are one of the commonly smuggled items.
“Ukrainian smokers should be thankful for Transdniester,” Gurvits joked.
Meanwhile, Transdniester officials await the announcement of the agreement between Ukraine and Moldova Nov. 19.
“It is as if we have been abandoned,” said Tiraspol native Yury Skripnichenko.
The 30-year-old driver still remembers the fighting in 1992 and the number of Tiraspol causalities: 40. He can recount the history of his native city back to Catherine the Great and defend it against “slander” from outside. But Skripnichenko can’t change reality. At the end of the year his Soviet passport will be worthless. He hopes to replace it with a Russian or Ukrainian one.
Ryan Grist, military consultant of OSCE’s Moldovan mission, refers to the economic blockade as “questionable.” A British native, Grist has no idea what the future holds for Transdniester. Although his organization is directly involved in the negotiations, he is not optimistic about what can be achieved.
The last set of talks were held just before the recent border restrictions. “Obviously it didn’t quite work out,” Grist said.
Svetlana Ionova interpreted for this story.
