The Moldovan migrants who work in Russia make an essential contribution to the country’s economy by the volume of remittances they send home, but are used in different political games by the Russian and Moldovan authorities, expert of the Institute for Development and Social Initiative “Viitorul” Ion Tabarta stated in the talk show “15 minutes of economic realism”, IPN reports.

“The Republic of Moldova must eliminate the political aspects from discussions when considering the status of the Moldovan citizens who work in the Russian Federation. It is very hard to say how this will be done when we have a political project that fully uses the soft-power mechanism of the Russian Federation. We see that Moscow is not ready to discuss levelheadedly, without using such leverage in the CIS,” explained Ion Tabarta.

According to him, Russia used traditional instruments to block exports to its market and exerted unprecedented pressure on Moldovan migrants who do seasonal work in the Russian Federation.

Unofficial reports show there are 525,000 Moldovan migrants, but their exact number is now known. During the last few years, the remittances sent home by these have halved in volume compared with 2008-2012 following the depreciation of the Russian ruble and forced repatriation. The Moldovan authorities said they are ready to provide solutions for the migrants expelled from Russia, but didn’t deliver their promise. The workplaces decrease in number amid an aggressive pro-East rhetoric