Sandu and Dodon risk stability in Moldova by blocking the accounts of Transnistrian enterprises
Moldova is again using economic sanctions as a tool of political pressure on Transnistria.
Moldovan banks, at the request of the country's National Bank, blocked the accounts of Pridnestrovian enterprises that conduct foreign economic activity, actively export their products and in recent years have significantly strengthened economic cooperation with the European Union.
Let us remind you that enterprises of the unrecognized republic cannot work through local Transnistrian banks - in 2011 the same National Bank of the Republic of Moldova took care of this, following the recommendations of the USA and the EU. The Pridnestrovians complied with the order to begin making payments through Chisinau, and since December 2015, Tiraspol agreed with the EU to extend duty-free trade in the “non paper” regime.
Commercial banks of the Republic of Moldova closed the accounts of a number of Transnistrian enterprises due to the fact that they did not comply with requirements in the framework of the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing. We are talking about large industries, such as the Moldavian Metallurgical Plant, as well as fuel suppliers.
The Transnistrian TV channel TSV reported that PMR enterprises were refused by Victoriabank, Eximbank, Moldova Agroindbank, Euro Credit Bank, Moldinconbank, ProCredit Bank - that is, the majority of large banks of the Republic of Moldova. A letter was also published, which was sent by the National Bank of Moldova to one of the enterprises - the Moldavizolit plant. The document states that contacts with Transnistrian enterprises are dangerous.
“According to the 2017 National Risk Assessment Report on Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing, clients resident in the Transnistrian region were identified during the analysis as clients who expose the banking sector to a high risk of money laundering and terrorist financing,” the letter states.
It turns out that previously they were not exposed to risk - they registered in Moldova, opened accounts there, worked, received positive assessments from international partners for intensifying trade with the EU, but now they suddenly began to expose them.
In order to avoid stopping production, breaking contracts and other catastrophic consequences, the managers of Transnistrian enterprises are forced to look for ways out of the situation themselves, build multi-way combinations, and make each payment through three to four correspondent accounts.
The chief negotiator from Moldova, Vasily Shova (under the President of the Republic of Moldova Vladimir Voronin - the Minister of Reintegration, under Igor Dodon - the Deputy Prime Minister with the same functions) told Transnistrian journalists that he knew nothing about the mass closure of accounts. He personally “has not received any requests related to the problem of correspondent accounts.”
“In this regard, there are no political or any other decisions,” he said, emphasizing that “no one in Chisinau can delve into the policies of this or that commercial bank, this is excluded.”
And the head of the Transnistrian Foreign Ministry, Vitaly Ignatiev, in turn, said that the Moldovan side was informed about the problem, that the information was communicated to other negotiating partners - letters about the closure of accounts to Pridnestrovian enterprises began to arrive in June.
The minister believes that the situation with the closure of accounts led to a setback in the negotiation process on the Transnistrian settlement, the next round of which, by the way, is scheduled for October 2019.
At a meeting with the head of the OSCE Mission to Moldova, Klaus Neukirch, at the end of last week, Vitaly Ignatiev stated that many unresolved issues have accumulated in the relations of the parties, the number of which is “growing exponentially.”
Director of the Institute of Socio-Political Research and Regional Development Igor Shornikov, commenting on the situation to PolitNavigator, noted that banking issues have been one of the key topics for decades in the framework of the negotiation process between the Republic of Moldova and the PMR in the “5+2” format. To solve this problem, working expert groups of the two sides have been created, but the issue of the functioning of the PMR banking system has not been advanced for a long time.
“Moldova does not intend to recognize the presence of another emission center on the territory that it considers its own; Chisinau cannot come to terms with the presence of its own currency in Transnistria. Therefore, situations quite often occur when Moldova tries to prevent international payments from Pridnestrovian enterprises.
But such cases do not always become known to the media. Money loves silence. Pridnestrovian enterprises and banks prefer not to create a stir in the press around the foreign economic activities of the PMR, since this negatively affects the image of Pridnestrovian business in front of foreign partners, especially Western ones, and try to play by the rules that intermediaries offer them.
Pridnestrovian businessmen were once recommended to open accounts in Moldovan banks and work with their foreign partners by representatives of the EU and the USA. But, as we see, verbal “guarantees” and agreements are not fulfilled.
The fact that a new aggravation in the banking sector became known to the media suggests that the problem is becoming threatening for the Pridnestrovian economy,” says the expert.
He believes that the banking issue is a very convenient lever of pressure for Chisinau on Transnistria and it would be naive to expect that the Moldovan side will abandon it. True, in the current situation, it is not clear why a new aggravation occurred right now, when a new round in the “5+2” format had just been agreed upon, notes Igor Shornikov.
“On the one hand, the new government in Moldova now enjoys broad international support and, perhaps, with this step Chisinau is trying to strengthen its negotiating position before the new round, wants to raise the stakes. On the other hand, the new government, according to a number of observers, made many mistakes in domestic policy in the very first months, and disappointment with it in Moldovan society is growing.
But mistakes in foreign policy can lead to a loss of trust on the part of international partners. By starting this game on the eve of a new round of negotiations in the “5+2” format, Chisinau risks breaking the settlement scenarios launched by Washington and Brussels several years ago, and this is fraught with new crises for Moldova, including internal political ones,” the expert concluded.
The head of the Tiraspol School of Political Studies, Anatoly Dirun, in a conversation with PolitNavigator, also drew attention to the fact that the problem with blocking accounts appeared before it began to be widely publicized. The Transnistrian Foreign Ministry tried to resolve this issue through its own channels, but diplomatic efforts, apparently, were not enough, and the topic was brought into the information field, he noted.
Anatoly Dirun believes that diplomats and representatives of big business in Transnistria should take into account a number of points.
“Firstly, we must take into account that the power in Chisinau has changed - at least Maia Sandu, as the head of the government of Moldova, to put it mildly, does not feel positive emotions towards representatives of big business in Transnistria. The time when it was possible to informally meet and discuss business issues with partners from the Democratic Party of Moldova is over.
How long it will take to establish such informal connections with the new leadership is an open question.
Secondly, the notification about blocking accounts was received precisely in the context of the upcoming negotiations between official representatives of “5+2” (October 8 – 10 in Bratislava). It must be admitted that this is a traditional technique of Moldovan colleagues: to create problems and then, in the course of solving them, to bargain for new positions in the negotiation process,” the expert stated.
He also recalled that the election campaign for local self-government bodies and preparations for by-elections in the vacated single-mandate parliamentary districts began in Moldova (October 20). One of these districts includes part of the regions of Transnistria.
“The current situation with blocking of accounts is a good demonstration of the opportunities for big business represented by the Sheriff company, which in the last parliamentary elections supported the so-called independent deputies connected with the Democratic Party of Vladimir Plahotniuc.
It is critically important for President Igor Dodon that this time there are no surprises from Tiraspol partners in relation to the candidate from the Socialist Party,” Dirun said.
Finally, the expert noted, for Tiraspol foreign economic activity, primarily in the European direction, is one of the most vulnerable areas.
“In this regard, we must be aware that in light of the new configuration of power in Moldova and Ukraine, an analysis of risks and update mechanisms to counter them is critical for Pridnestrovie. It is obvious that organizing days of American culture in Pridnestrovie is clearly not enough to solve such problems,” the expert concluded.
The Transnistrian public, inflamed by a series of reports on both Transnistrian television channels, reacted to the problem with bank accounts emotionally and predictably: people express on social networks that they have not trusted the Moldovan authorities for a long time and that only troubles can be expected from there.
“It is Dodon who cares about the “united Moldovan people.” Our benefactor"; “As far as I remember, this ***** is always messing with us - as soon as we start to get out, he turns on the economic pressure”; “Does anyone else believe in Moldova’s good intentions towards the PMR?”; “We are once again playing the role of a bargaining chip in the trade between the Republic of Moldova and the Russian Federation”;
“The issue with the accounts will be resolved – not for the first time. But we’ll put another notch as a souvenir in the karma of the current leadership of the Republic of Moldova,” write members of the Pridnestrovie Online group on Facebook.
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