The new Customs Code, which stipulates that the economic agents from the left bank of the Nistru River must pay import duties, is a step towards the reunification of the Republic of Moldova. PAS MP Lilian Carp said that the legislation is applied uniformly throughout the country, and economic agents from the Transnistrian region must be treated on the same footing as those from the right bank of the Nistru, IPN notes.
The new Customs Code of the Republic of Moldova that entered into force January 1, 2024 provides that the economic agents from the Transnistrian region must pay import duties, as the economic agents from the right bank of the Nistru do.
“For 30 years, concessions regarding the refund of VAT had been made both to those from the left bank of the Nistru and to ATU Gagauzia. Therefore, there is discrimination against the economic agents of the Republic of Moldova. What we decided is that all economic agents should be put on an equal footing. It is a decision by which we deliver some messages and the first message is that they operate on the territory of the Republic of Moldova, even if they self-proclaimed their independence. The law is for all. We also give a signal that time has come to start the process of reunifying the Republic of Moldova. Exactly the same happened to ATU Gagauzia. Everyone is on equal terms,” Lilian Carp stated in the program “Shadow Cabinet” on JurnalTV channel.
CUB chairman Igor Munteanu said that it is important not only to adopt laws, but also to implement them. He wondered if the new provisions of the Customs Code will be applied in relation to economic agents from the left bank of the Nistru, given that Tiraspol, having the energy leverage, can blackmail Chisinau.
“This amendment to the Customs Code whereby the economic agents from the left bank of the Nistru River are placed on an equal footing with private companies from the right bank is an important step that had been prepared for three years. It is a surprise, perhaps, only to the separatist leaders who tried to make this change a cause for noise and scandal. Obviously, most of the leaders of the so-called civil society who protested are well-documented officers of the Transnistrian security services. Now the problem is how this legislation will be applied because the separatist regime has many levers of influence and response to the daring actions of the government in Chisinau. And the energy is Tiraspol’s most important lever. The electricity bought from MGRES makes the Republic of Moldova an easy victim. At any time, this leverage can be exerted,” said the leader of the Coalition for Unity and Wellbeing (CUB) Igor Munteanu.
In the same connection, political commentator Anatol Țăranu said that although big businessmen from the left bank of the Nistru are dissatisfied with the new legislation adopted in Chisinau, a real economic war would mean total blockage of their activity.
“The protest was organized with the permission of the police. It is absolutely obvious that there is no civil society there, which can freely express its position. It is an attempt by the Transnistrians to consolidate their society around an invented danger they announced: Moldova is attacking us! It is not in vain that Transnistria is called the Sheriff Republic. A lot of money is made there. The businesses don’t like losing money. They undoubtedly suffer losses because of this new Customs Code. But if an economic war is started in the true sense of the word, given that the Ukrainian border is blocked, this would mean losing everything,” stated Anatol Țăranu.
On Thursday, employees of enterprises based in the Transnistrian region were brought to the Bender-Varnitsa checkpoint to protest against the new provisions of the Customs Code. The protest was allegedly organized by the so-called civil society from the Transnistrian region.
