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President Viktor Yushchenko seen here shaking hands on July 14, 2005, with Igor Smirnov, leader of the Transdniestrian separatist state which split off from Moldova. Presidential Press Service Move is seen as attempt by Ukraine to get upper geopolitical hand over Russia, which remains highly influential in the region

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– Javier Solana, EU High Representative




In a move to stop contraband moving across Ukraine’s southwestern border with the self-proclaimed Transdniestrian Moldovan Republic (TMR), Kyiv has announced it will only accept imports that are stamped by customs officials in the recognized Moldovan capital of Chisinau.

The move is seen as an attempt by Ukraine to get an upper geopolitical hand over Russia, which remains highly influential in the region, largely through a contingent of peacekeeping troops stationed in the breakaway republic.

The decision was vehemently opposed by Igor Smirnov, the leader of the separatist state who has sided in the past with Moscow.

Smirnov has threatened to pull out of negotiations with Chisinau, with which Tiraspol fought a civil war in the early ‘90s, while Russia and the West have moved to support the opposing sides.

The March 3 resolution additionally requires the separatist authorities in Tiraspol to pay taxes to the Moldovan government in Chisinau, with which they fought a civil war in the early 1990s. Ukraine has already stopped allowing any goods checked and stamped by Transdniester customs into Ukraine and increased the number of its custom offices on the border with Transdniester.

War of words

“In this state of economic blockade, the only country that Transdniester can place its hope on is Russia,” Smirnov was quoted as saying by TMR’s Olvia Press.

In response, Smirnov said that TMR would withdraw from its never-ending negotiations with Moldova.

“We think that such talks are useless. Transdniester has more than once stated that it is prepared for negotiations on equal terms but not under pressure.”

Ukraine, Russia and the OSCE all serve as guarantors in the five-sided talks.

“Transdniestrians’ faith in Ukraine’s fairness and objectiveness has been lost,” reads a March 3 statement by the TMR foreign ministry.

Moldovan Prime Minister Vasile Tarlev insisted on March 6 that a blockade would be "out of the question" because many Moldovans live in Transdniester, according to a report by Russian news agency RIA Novosti.

But separatists have already blocked three trains carrying goods from Ukraine to Molodova, the Associated Press reported.

Simultaneously, the Moldovan government has demanded that all Transdniester businesses register and start paying their taxes in Moldova, which the TMR government has called “catastrophic” for the self-proclaimed republic’s economy. Moldova’s major industrial enterprises are located on the territory now controlled by the Transdniester authorities.

The joint move by Moldova and Ukraine has been met with open rejection in Moscow. A March 4 statement by the Russian Foreign Ministry calls the bilateral decision an attempt “to put economic pressure on [Transdniester]” and “force it to capitulate politically.”

The Russian 14th Army headquarters are located in Transdniester, a strip of land that runs along the Dniester river bordering Ukraine and Moldova. The territory is home to about half a million people. Most of them are Slavic and feel closer to Russia and Ukraine, rather than Moldova and Romania, which share a common history and language.

High stakes

TMR, which is not recognized internationally, is believed to get much of its income from the smuggling of weapons, cigarettes and other products.

Sources in Odessa told the Post on condition of anonymity that the trafficking of illegal goods between Ukraine and Moldova through Transdniester has now completely ceased, causing turmoil on both sides of the border with companies and criminal groups that profit from the contraband.

The European Union on March 6 expressed its support for the two countries’ decision.

“This declaration is very important for the establishment of an orderly regime on the Ukrainian-Moldovan border, to which the EU attaches great importance,” read a statement by Javier Solana, EU High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy.

The statement also noted that the EU Border Assistance Mission to Moldova and Ukraine would be meeting with Ukrainian and Moldovan authorities, ”to assist in solving practical difficulties that may arise in the initial phase of implementation of the new regime.”

Solana encouraged Transdniester businesses to register with the Chisinau authorities and called on officials in Tiraspol not to interfere. On February 14, the European Union’s Council adopted a Common Position, imposing a visa ban on 17 Transdniester leaders. The ban was supported by the United States, Romania and Moldova.