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A private bank branch in Pridnestrovie. The country's banking system is largely privately-owned, well funded and mature

MOSCOW (Tiraspol Times) - At the congress of the Russian Bank Association, held in Moscow, the banking system of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR) was recognized as as being completely constituted and fully operational.

This was confirmed in a press conference held today by Yuri Tverdokhleb, Chairman of the PMR Bank Association.

The Russian Bank Association unites 727 financial institutions from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries of the former Soviet Union and banks affiliated with Russia but located abroad. It includes Pridnestrovie-based banks who are members of the local PMR Bank Association.

" - Participation in this forum offers serious practical assistance to our work. It allows us to find solutions for solving a number of problems, which relate not just to our country's savings and loan industry but to the entire banking system of the PMR," he said.

He also said that Russian bankers noted a need for to harmonize banking legislation of the two countries, and recognized that the new law about the PMR Central Bank corresponds to universal, internationally recognized standards. It has as its prototype the Russian Central Banking law.

Pridnestrovie's Central Bank issues the country's own currency, the PMR Ruble.

Pridnestrovie's own currency was introduced in 1992, a year and a half after the country declared independence on 2 September 1990. Pridnestrovie is also known internationally as Transdniester, an informal name in English, and as Transnistria, its unofficial Romanian name. Despite meeting all the requirements for statehood under internatinal law, an unresolved territorial claim with neighboring Moldova has so far kept it from achieving international recognition and full integration in the international community.

The small country is home to a little over 550,000 people, approximately twice the size of Iceland. Its population is equal to the population of Montenegro which declared independence in 2006 and is the latest country to obtain membership of the United Nations.

See also:
» New headquarters for Europe's newest Central Bank [1]
» Gold ownership legal, retail sales by PMR banking sector [2]