Today, on the premises of the OSCE Mission in Tiraspol, after a five-month pause, a meeting of the chief negotiators on the Transnistrian settlement took place.
Vitaly Ignatiev, representing Tiraspol, raised numerous issues whose resolution has been dragging on for years with no visible progress.
He once again proposed signing a Declaration on Commitment to Peaceful Methods of Settlement (whose relevance has only grown amid rising tensions), called for cooperation between law enforcement agencies in preventing drug trafficking and phone fraud, and focused attention on environmental problems, in particular the shallowing of the Dniester — which likewise requires coordinated efforts.
The problem of vehicle registration and neutral license plates remains unresolved, and rights to freedom of movement are being violated — residents of the region, journalists, and officials of the region are periodically deported from the Right Bank.
Ignatiev named the pseudo-VAT and the forced seizure of funds from Transnistrian enterprises into the “convergence fund” as the key problem in the relationship.
“Nowhere in the world does double taxation exist. No economy will work that way. I was interested in what the purpose of these actions by Moldova, taken unilaterally, was, since the first 4 weeks showed that there were no revenues. And for the first time I heard from the Moldovan side that the purpose of the pseudo-VAT and excise duties is not to replenish the so-called ‘convergence fund’ to solve social problems, but that the goals are political,” Ignatiev stated.
And what about Kiveri? He responded that “money will not be returned to unknown budgets to repressive structures that suppress human rights.” He explained the decline in activity of Transnistrian importers by claiming they had allegedly stockpiled the necessary goods in advance. In short — a dead end.
Kiveri, however, was touched by the building of the Romanian lyceum and promised to fully cover the restoration work at two lyceums on condition that they be transferred to Chișinău. At the same time, he once again demanded the transfer of all educational institutions where Moldovan language instruction is conducted to the Latin script (i.e., to Romanian).
