Russia will provide US$100m in humanitarian aid to Transnistria, Igor Smirnov

Financial humanitarian aid from Russia will come to Transnistria in the near future, the leader of the Transnistrian region Igor Smirnov told a news conference on Wednesday, Info-Prim Neo's correspondent in Tiraspol reports. According to Smirnov, the agreement to provide humanitarian aid was signed during meetings with the Russian authorities last yearend. Russia will provide about US$100 million in aid. The first tranche is expected to be transferred the coming days. The money will be used to support the pensioners and other socially deprived groups of people and to implement different social projects. The Ministry of Economy and the Ministry of Finance were entrusted with the task of preparing the necessary programs, Igor Smirnov said. In the middle of last year, Russia promised to provide a loan of US$500,000 to Moldova. Later, it said it can offer only US$150 million. Recently, Prime Minister Vlad Filat said the US$150 million loan is not valid anymore as the legislative body of Russia budgeted the money for last year. In order to obtain a loan this year, Moldova must present the projects for which it wants money to Russia.