 | AN ANCIENT CIVILIZATION once existed on the left bank of the Dniester. Find out how, for more than 5,000 years, the river formed an international border between two separate and very distinct cultures. [more] |  | | |  | A RIVER OF BLOOD was the promise to Moldova's Slavic minority in 1990. Ethnic conflict played a role in independence struggles on both sides of the Dniester river. [more] |
| ||||||
PMR Govt dips into $14M of Gazprom debt
Hard up for cash, Transdniester's government convinced parliament to approve a $14M funding bill which in turn will leave energy supplies unpaid. The money was transferred from a fund designed for repayment of a debt owed to Russian gas supplier Gazprom. Criticism of the move was widespread among parliamentarians.
One of Gazprom's gas pipelines go through Transdniester's territory. Now, the new country is using gas money to pay local wagesTIRASPOL (Tiraspol Times) - The government of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR) has authorized a cash infusion of $14 million from money which was earmarked for the payment of a gas debt.
The money was part of a fund set aside for drawing down a large and ongoing debt with Russia's state-controlled OAO Gazprom for previous energy supplies. However, in the face of ongoing financial difficulties, parliament authorized the transfer of the $14 million into operating expenses from the Gazprom-destined settlement account.
The move entailed emergency legislation to ensure regular payment of pensions and social benefits.
" - Gas money may not be used otherwise than to pay for gas. We need Parliament’s decision to change this law," said PMR Finance Minister Irina Molokanova.
The Gas Payment Law was enacted to ensure timely settlement of accounts with Russia’s Gazprom. Gas revenue is accumulated in a special gas account and then used for paying off an overdue debt for past energy supplies. The withdrawal and spending of money on unrelated items is subject to criminal and administrative liability.
Yevgeny Shevchuk, 38, leader of the opposition party "Renewal" and Speaker of the Transdniester parliament.
- Between a rock and a hard place
" - The legislature is put in the situation when it has to make decisions and also assume responsibility," said Yevgeny Shevchuk, the 38 year old Speaker of Parliament and leader of Renewal, a large opposition party. "But we can’t explain it to the old people who are waiting for their small pensions to cover their expenses somehow”.
While politicians in the new and emerging country want to pay down the debt which has previously been accumulated for gas supplies, they also have a responsibility towards providing pensions and wages to a large part of the more than half million people who live in their territory. As the currently available money won't cover everything, one parliamentarian said it was like being between a rock and a hard place.
According to a report from the parliamentary press service, it took much debate before members of Parliament agreed to support the $14M emergency initiative. This was done with conditions attached to the move: Parliamentarians will periodically check the special gas account jointly with the Accounts Chamber and will then produce a report on the amount of gas revenue which is accumulated on the special gas account. The members of Parliament will also discuss the matter in September during the upcoming work on the unrecognized country's 2008 budget and tax policy.
Member of Parliament Andrei Yudin asked the government administration a number of questions, “Have our plans to use gas revenue been agreed with Russia? Has anybody carried on any talks on the matter and told that it would be a loan? Are Russians agreed that we won’t pay the money to them?”
" - We may face the 2002 situation: gas cutoff," warned another MP, Anatoly Belitchenko. In 2002, energy supplies to Transdniester were temporarily suspended due to lack of payment. In Belitchenko's opinion, a repeat of the 2002-gas cutoff scenario means that "Rybnitsa will be doomed."
Other members of parliament also questioned and criticized the proposal for using Gazprom money to cover holes in this year's budget.
- No aid from anyone
Transdniester survives on its own with no aid from Russia, Moldova or anyone else. With a highly export-oriented economy, the lack of free access to its natural markets for more than a year has hurt revenues.
The budget crunch resulted as the combined result of an economic blockade and a lack of foreign aid. Since 3 March 2006, neighboring Moldova has restricted exports from Transdniester, leading to a breakdown in settlement talks and an estimated loss of $500 million per year for Transdniester.
Although Russia initially provided emergency aid of $10 million per month to cover the most critical expenditures, this aid was stopped in late 2006. No financial aid has been received from Russia in the course of 2007. The PMR budget initially had a shortfall of $100 million (later reduced by nearly half, to $52 million). Parliamentarians passed the unfunded portion of the budget in the expectation of foreign aid - primarily from Russia - which never came and was never promised.
" - The financial aid issue was last raised in Moscow in December 2006," said Transdniester's Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Malyarchuk, commenting on negotiations carried out with the ministry's Russian counterparts. "They let us know that no aid will be given to us in 2007."
See also:
» Gazprom signs direct energy contract with PMR, bypassing Moldova
» Yevgeny Shevchuk: "We should be ready for the worst"
» Uncertain MPs look to Russia for aid
| more about government | |||||
| |||||
The government of Pridnestrovie has proposed a solution on Permanent Status Negotiations that will be based on consensus with Moldova. Its government sees little or no point in signing an unequal treaty which mostly favors just one of the sides, its Foreign Ministry said. The dispute over Pridnestrovie's territory has lasted almost 18 years. . . 
