The Federation of Trade Unions of Transnistria says that the living conditions in the region are getting worse, Info-Prim Neo’s correspondent in Transnistria reports. At the meetings of the primary trade union organizations, the staffs write petitions to the Transnistrian leader Igor Smirnov and speaker Evgheny Shevchuk, asking them to raise the salaries, as the food products and public utilities got dearer, and to liquidate the salary arrears. At the sitting of the presidium of the education trade unions in Dubasari town, the trade unionists working in education formulated an appeal to the regions’ administration, asking that teachers’ salaries be increased to the minimum salary value for the region – 1,000 Transnistrian rubles (about 1,200 lei). The teachers in Transnistria now get a salary of 670 rubles (about 840 lei) with all the bonuses added. At the State Duma hearings in Moscow last week, Evgheny Shevchuk said that about 200,000 people have left the region since the Transnistrian conflict started. The incomes earned by the region’s inhabitants are among the lowest in Europe. If such tendencies persist, Transnistria’s population could drop to 300,000 by 2015, almost twice less. The number of active people aged between 20 and 45 would reduce the most. The average salary in Transnistria is three times lower than in Russia. The food prices in Tiraspol are almost the same as in Moscow or even higher. Milk and dairy products in Tiraspol are by 10% dearer than in Moscow, the wheat flour by 15%, the eggs by 20%. According to the latest census, Transnistria has a population of 530,000. The press reports 400,000 people. The ratio of the employed to the unemployed is one to three.