Chisinau and Tiraspol politicized the passenger transportation sector, while the demands of each of the sides towards this sector create a kind of inflation, said Iurie Mihalache, author of the study “Moldova and the Transnistrian region from the perspective of transport relations,” IPN reports.

Iurie Mihalache, who is an associate expert of the Institute for Development and Social Initiative “Viitorul”, said the constitutional authorities are adjusting the legal framework on transport to the European one, while the Transnistrian administration aligns itself with the Russian legislation. This led to the politicization of the transport sector. The restoration of the freight train routes via Transnistria can be considered a short-term project as the agreements must be every year extended.

In 2003 the Transnistrian administration introduced taxes on the crossing of the so-called border on the Nistru River. Even if they were annulled five years later, the tax on long-term visits to the districts from the left side of the Nistru was maintained. The taxi drivers from the right bank encounter a serious problem as they are obliged to pay a tax when crossing the ‘border’.  

As to air transport, the study author said the airport in Tiraspol is nonfunctional and is sometimes used by the Russian peacekeepers. The authorities are recommended to reject any attempt by the Transnistrian side to negotiate the opening of this airport.

Attending the presentation of the study, the chairman of the Union of Carriers and Road Workers Eugen Datsko said the Moldovan carriers lost the Transnistrian market. They sustain considerable losses as they have to bypass the Transnistrian segment.

The study recommends initiating joint projects in order to reunify Moldova, including to assemble trolleybuses and to modernize the electric passenger transport on both banks of the Nistru.