National Development Plan proposes to socially and economically reintegrate Transnistria

The draft National Development Plan (NDP) suggests reintegrating socially and economically the Transnistria region into Moldova. “We must think how to carry out this reintegration through economic, social, infrastructure and then political projects,” the secretary of the NDP Council for Participation Igor Grosu said at a recent roundtable meeting on the implementation of the Plan. According to Grosu, given that the settlement of the conflict depends not only on Moldova’s wish, but also on the input of foreign factors, the right bank of the Nistru should be more attractive as regards the provision of high quality social services, especially medical. The furnishing of such services will make the people believe that they are part of a common society and will tend to integrate into Moldova. The credibility degree will grow proportionally to the quality and quantity of the services. The dialogue should include not only the Transnistrian authorities that “benefit from the chaos that prevails there”, but also ordinary people, who should enjoy concessions, Igor Grosu said. He proposes exempting the residents of the region from paying social contributions at the first stage. Consultant in macroeconomics Vladimir Golovatiuc said that the reintegration will be successful only after the economic problems are solved. When the people see that the right bank has a strong and stable economy and to live in a unified Moldova is better that in a separated Transnistria, the conclusions will be evident, Vladimir Golovatiuc said cited by Info-Prim Neo.