"Savagery and barbarism." Transnistria is fighting coronavirus and Moldovan bureaucracy
Transnistria is trying with all its might to contain the rapid spread of the new coronavirus on its territory. Thanks to quarantine measures taken in advance, the unrecognized republic still retains chances for a relatively favorable exit from the crisis, although it is already clear today that losses cannot be avoided. As of April 2, there are 32 infected people in the PMR, of which two have died. The situation is also complicated by politics.
Chinese style quarantine
An unrecognized state with a population of 465 thousand people (data for 2018), sandwiched between Ukraine and Moldova and possessing very modest resources, took the threat of coronavirus seriously and, as best as it could, acted proactively.
The authorities of the republic, led by President Vadim Krasnoselsky, considered it expedient to use the Asian experience, in particular, the experience of China, a country that, within three months, coped with the epidemic by introducing strict restrictions.
Back on January 31, Transnistria, which has recently made every effort to attract tourists, closed its borders to foreigners. In two months, almost 1,5 thousand visitors from abroad were not allowed into the republic. Later the border was closed to travel. Pridnestrovians can leave the republic only in emergency cases. Those returning home from abroad are quarantined.
Since March 17, a state of emergency regarding coronavirus has been in force in the PMR. Quarantine measures have been tightened several times. Trade and service facilities are closed - only food stores, pharmacies and bank branches are open. Law enforcement measures have been strengthened. Streets and buildings are constantly being disinfected. Public transport has been completely stopped, the movement of people on the streets is limited. You can only leave your home if absolutely necessary, and you must have an ID card with you.
Pridnestrovian old women, who were walking around the shops at the beginning of March and cheerfully listing what shocks - unlike the coronavirus - Soviet people had to experience in their lifetime, became quiet and did not leave their houses: there was no time for jokes. Relatives, neighbors, as well as the police and volunteers bring food and medicine to the elderly. The volunteer movement, which was small and scattered in Transnistria, was instantly coordinated and grew. Today hundreds of people all over the republic are participating in it.
Large enterprises in Transnistria quickly found their bearings and switched to producing antiseptics, protective masks and clothing for doctors. Entrepreneurs who suffered due to the introduction of a state of emergency for their livelihoods, and enterprises that have closed, will be provided with state support. This includes recalculation of the cost of a patent, cancellation of rent, non-collection of income and insurance contributions, penalties for non-payment for housing and communal services during the emergency, payment of unemployment benefits and other measures.
The Operational Headquarters to prevent the spread of viral infection has been operating in the PMR for a month now. It was headed by the Minister of Internal Affairs Ruslan Mova. President Vadim Krasnoselsky took personal responsibility for managing the process.
He called on people to show discipline and responsibility, to comply with quarantine requirements, to avoid panic, and assured that “the republic is fully provided with food and everything necessary for life in a pandemic.”
“Together we will be able to overcome this challenge with minimal losses, we will preserve the Pridnestrovian people and the Pridnestrovian state,” the president said on April 2 in an address to the people.
Transnistrian political scientist Andrei Safonov writes on his Facebook page: Transnistria has taken into account that one of the factors in defeating the infection is strict order and discipline.
“Let us pay attention to how China fought and won. Yes, the PRC and the PMR are not comparable in scale. But the measures taken by our government are largely taken into account precisely the Chinese experience. And let's look at the euro mess - first of all, at Italy, which is drowning in the influx of cases. Each of us watched as the mayors of Italian cities fought in hysterics on the television screen, imploring their fellow citizens not to wander the streets for hours with dogs, not to go on picnics, not to crowd in groups in parks. Sorry sight! Complete powerlessness of power! If we want to stack corpses on an ice skating rink due to a lack of space in the morgues, then we can arrange a similar “democracy” in our own country. And if we want to save ourselves, then our attitude should be like the Chinese,” Safonov noted.
But in terms of medicine, it is difficult to compare the readiness of Transnistria and China for an epidemic.
To receive coronavirus patients, the republican authorities have prepared a special center in the city of Slobodzeya. This hospital building has not seen repairs for a long time, and, despite all efforts, the living conditions there are not the most comfortable. Laboratory tests of PMR residents to detect coronavirus are not yet being carried out locally, but in Chisinau, where there is now enough work to do – there are already more than 400 sick people in Moldova. Pridnestrovian doctors, who are now bearing the brunt of the crisis, have until now remained among the least paid in the republic. In fact, it is only now, when the thunder has struck, that decisions have begun to be made on significant bonuses for doctors and healthcare workers. There is a serious shortage of personnel in the industry.
Recently, by the way, the leadership of the Ministry of Health of the PMR and the Republican Clinical Hospital changed. It turned out that a patient with COVID-19 was undergoing inpatient treatment in the pulmonology department of the Russian Clinical Hospital. Fifty people - patients and department staff - had to be sent to the Slobodzeya coronavirus hospital for tests. The President of Transnistria called this case “an example of medical negligence and irresponsibility.”
Pridnestrovian expert, deputy director of the Institute of Socio-Political Research and Regional Development (ISPRRD) Andrei Mospanov, commenting on the situation to PolitNavigator, said that the steps that Pridnestrovie is taking today in the fight against coronavirus are necessary and that a set of measures was launched in a timely manner - without them the number of victims Coronavirus could clearly be higher now.
“We see effective, well-organized work of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Today in Transnistria this is the No. 1 law enforcement agency. And this is not surprising - the strengthening and development of the material and personnel base of the Ministry of Internal Affairs was given attention under all Pridnestrovian presidents.
Attitudes towards healthcare were somewhat different. As a result, Pridnestrovian medicine today is not nearly as strong as we would like, and it may not be able to withstand a large number of coronavirus patients. Therefore, the emphasis in the fight against COVID-2019 is on maximizing the reduction of possible sources of spread. Here the leading role belongs to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and state administrations of cities and regions.
Problems in the field of public health are observed, however, not only in Transnistria, but, as we see, in Moldova, Ukraine and even developed EU countries. The general process of reducing the social role of states and the increasing introduction of neoliberal practices in such sectors as medicine and education has affected everyone in one way or another.
In our opinion, one of the consequences of the current coronavirus epidemic (and it is possible that similar viruses will appear in the future) should definitely be greater attention by the Transnistrian state, first of all, to the personnel potential of local healthcare, including the salaries of doctors. For the majority of the local population, for pensioners, of whom there are many in the PMR, a doctor is still a more significant figure than a judge or a prosecutor [judges and then prosecutors in the PMR have had their salaries significantly increased in recent years - approx. ed.]. At the same time, it is also necessary to support medical science in Pridnestrovie.
In the context of an epidemic, the high-profile resignations of experienced medical specialists, which we recently saw in the PMR, are hardly the right step,” says the deputy director of the ISPIRR.
He also noted that the spread of a dangerous infection showed the lack of digital technologies used for communication between citizens and the state.
“Modern technologies related to electronic document management have not yet reached all government bodies and institutions in Pridnestrovie, although the PMR government is working in this direction. The COVID-2019 epidemic will most likely give new impetus to the development of electronic document management. The current situation is, in particular, a good reason for the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Social Protection to think about what could be done online,” says Andrey Mospanov.
According to the expert, for now there is an expectation that Pridnestrovie is able to cope with the coronavirus on its own. If the situation becomes truly critical, then in the current conditions only Russia can help, he noted.
Coronavirus is not the only scourge
In addition to the coronavirus, Pridnestrovie also has to deal with problems that, as usual, Chisinau throws up.
Pridnestrovian cargo has begun to get stuck at the border with Moldova - the procedures for their clearance are delayed for up to a week. Moldova imposes additional bureaucratic requirements on goods imported into the PMR.
We are talking, in particular, about medicines. Pridnestrovians are forced to transport them in transit through Moldova due to the quarantine closure of the Ukrainian border. Non-medical cargo is also delayed, for example, computer equipment, radio modems, which are necessary for organizing distance learning (in Transnistria the fourth academic quarter is already underway remotely), as well as trucks with food.
The rights of residents of Transnistria to freely use their own financial resources are being violated. Today, in the territory of the republic it is impossible to cash out money on MasterCard and Visa cards. They were blocked after an appeal from the Moldovan authorities to international payment systems. Pensioners who receive monthly Russian payments also suffer from this. The Transnistrian authorities have to organize the delivery of citizens to the Moldovan village of Varnitsa (near the city of Bendery) to withdraw cash from international cards through ATMs.
According to the expert, director of ISPIRR Igor Shornikov, the refusal to allow medicines and equipment for organizing distance learning into Transnistria is “the first signs” of closing communications across the Transnistrian-Ukrainian border, and Chisinau’s restriction on the use of VISA and MasterCard bank cards is one of the measures of pressure on Tiraspol , the implementation of which was apparently planned for 2020."
The expert recalled that the process of installing joint Moldovan-Ukrainian checkpoints on the Pridnestrovian-Ukrainian border began almost three years ago. For Chisinau, the full functioning of such points could mean establishing complete control over the exports and imports of Transnistria, and this is a powerful lever of political pressure on Tiraspol. Meanwhile, the launch of these posts was constantly postponed.
“Perhaps the Ukrainian side saw the presence of Moldovan security forces on its territory as an infringement of its own sovereignty, or perhaps the international mediators were not ready for the aggravation of the regional situation against the backdrop of progress in the negotiation process,” Igor Shornikov said in an interview with PolitNavigator. – One way or another, the question was postponed. And only when, due to the coronavirus pandemic, Ukraine closed the border with Transnistria, Chisinau got a chance to impose its legal norms on Tiraspol. It would seem that the pandemic played into the hands of Chisinau; Moldova now controls all Pridnestrovian foreign trade. But delaying medicines during a pandemic is such blatant savagery and barbarism that the cargo still had to be allowed through. However, we must understand that the lever remains in the hands of Chisinau and it will be able to use it again when the pandemic passes.
Restricting the use of bank cards on the territory of Transnistria appears to be an equally barbaric act by Chisinau. And it’s not even that the hit was primarily on pensioners who, under conditions of total quarantine, have to travel to Moldova to withdraw funds from an ATM. The very attempt to deprive Pridnestrovians of the opportunity to use basic and generally accepted payment systems is noteworthy. In the context of a dangerous pandemic, the negative humanitarian effect of such restrictions increases by an order of magnitude. After all, this restriction was introduced before the quarantine, and no one really noticed it. Now, when the quarantine is becoming stricter every day, the problem has become glaring and will have to be solved with the involvement of international partners.
No, Chisinau is not trying to use the coronavirus pandemic to increase pressure on Transnistria, although this is exactly what it looks like from the outside now. This pressure was planned by the logic of the internal political struggle in Moldova. At the end of 2020, presidential elections are scheduled to take place in the Republic of Moldova. And Transnistria, home to tens of thousands of potential voters, could play a decisive role in the victory or defeat of one of the candidates. It seems that the current government in Moldova planned, by systematically increasing pressure, to squeeze Tiraspol so tightly in pincers that during the election period it would completely eliminate surprises from Transnistrian voters. Bank cards and trucks with medicines were the first steps.
However, the coronavirus appears to be throwing a wrench in those plans. At a time when the whole world and, in particular, the European Union and the United States are suffering from a pandemic, the growing pressure from Chisinau on Tiraspol will be presented in a very unattractive light for Moldova.”
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