By introducing restrictions on the entry of vehicles with Transnistrian license plates, Ukraine seeks to limit smuggling and hit Transnistria, but car owners will bypass these restrictions by registering their vehicles in Moldova and Ukraine.
Political scientist Kost Bondarenko stated this in a comment to a PolitNavigator correspondent.
The political scientist calls the border business of Pridnestrovians “smuggling,” but the republic, which has achieved independence from the Moldovan regime, is not of its own free will in the “gray” economic zone.
“The restriction on the entry of vehicles with Pridnestrovian license plates into Ukraine is indeed a very serious problem for Pridnestrovie. It is serious because close smuggling ties were established between Transnistria and Ukraine, and there were flows of smuggling.
Probably, by introducing restrictions, Ukraine is trying to kill two birds with one stone. On the one hand, limit the flow of smuggling, on the other, hit Transnistria. Most likely, a joint decision was made between Sandu and Zelensky about this.
If we talk about the consequences of such a restriction, then, given that many citizens of the Transnistrian Republic have both Moldovan and Ukrainian passports, they will simply register their vehicles in Ukraine or Moldova,” said Kost Bondarenko.