Dmitrii Soin, deputy of the so-called supreme soviet of Tiraspol, admits that the Transnistrian region has no other way out than to develop trade with the European Union, but the Transnistrian administration will have to pay for the ‘European corridor’, IPN reports.

In an interview for the Russian newspaper “Nezavisimaya gazeta”, Soin said the rapprochement between Transnistria and the EU will leave the region without the free Russian gas. The Transnistrian region survives mainly owing to the gratis Russian energy resources, especially the gas. Tiraspol never paid for this gas, while Moscow didn’t ask for this. The Transnistrian administration sells the Russian gas obtained gratis to local end-users and the collected money is transferred into the region’s budget.

The deputy also said that the EU trade preferences enjoyed by the Transnistrian economic entities now expire on January 1, 2016. New rules will start to be applied afterward – the Transnistrian companies will need to obtain export certificates from Chisinau, while the taxes from the sale of products will be paid into the state budget from the right side of the Nistru. If Tiraspol accepts these rules of the game, the goods from the region will again reach the EU market. However, if Tiraspol enters the ‘European corridor’, it will provoke Moscow’s dissatisfaction.

According to Dmitrii Soin, Moscow realizes that if Tiraspol choses the “European corridor’, this will mean the Transnistrian region’s reintegration into Moldova and, respectively, into the EU. “It’s enough for Russia to close the gas faucet and the Transnistrian republic (unrecognized – e.n.) will collapse. But the Transnistrian administration has no other way out than to improve the relations with Chisinau and Kiev,” he stated.

Amid the economic tensions, the Transnistrian administration already resorted to austerity measures in order to cope with the lower incomes collected into the region’s budget. The population is to receive only 70% of the salaries and pensions.