Trade between the left and the right sides of the Nistru will contract in the near future because the amount of Moldovan lei in the Transnistrian region is too high, said the first vice president of the region’s Central Bank Alexei Melnic, being quoted by IPN.
According to him, the Transnistrian companies that sell goods to the right side of the Nistru get Moldovan lei instead. But they sell more than the consumers from the left side of the Nistru buy from suppliers from the right side. “The difference amounts to about US$135 million a year, the equivalent in Moldovan lei. This sum in lei is larger than the region needs at present. This money cannot be exchange for another currency because the banks in the Republic of Moldova refuse to do it,” Alexei Melnic stated for a local TV channel.
“We realize that this situation will only worsen in the future. As the lei that enter the Transnistrian region as proceeds cannot be converted, the value of the leu in the Transnistrian region will decrease against the levels recorded on the right side. Therefore, trade between Transnistria and the rest of Moldova will contract and will do it rather swiftly as trade implies an equivalent exchange.”
The exchanging of Moldovan lei accumulated in the accounts of Transnistrian business entities by banks operating on the right side of the Nistru has been a problem for many years.
