In September 2007 the Government imposed traffic restrictions on vehicles with Transnistria plates and driven by citizens of Moldova residing on the right side of the Nistru without offering a solution for legalizing those vehicles, notes the “Promo-Lex” Association. The group, a human rights watchdog working on the left side of the Nistru, also doubts the existence of the temporary regulations on the introduction and free movement of vehicles with non-standard documents and registration plates, said to be approved by the Government on November 7, 2007. At the same time, the Government assures that a bill to enable the legalization of vehicles with Transnistria plates is currently being drafted. Pavel Postica, a lawyer for “Promo-Lex”, has told Info-Prim Neo the association asked the Government to make public the regulations in question. Since the executive refused, Promo-Lex has taken legal action against the Government and the Ministry of Information Development, the authors of the regulations. According to Pavel Postica, initially, the Government invoked the state secret privilege to justify the refusal. After the NGO proved that the information would not endanger the national security if made public, the Government started delaying things. The fact that these documents are kept under lock and key is not just a severe violation of the Access to Information Law, says Postica. The association is almost certain that the regulations that ban the movement of Transnistria-tagged vehicles do not exist, which means in fact that the interdiction is unlawful and also that the Government hasn’t yet thought of a real solution for legalizing those cars. This is also an unjustified interference with people’s property rights. As a result, they are not able to manage their property, nor can they move, or sell, or re-register the cars they own. Furthermore, the lawyer maintains traffic officers are breaking the law when unscrewing the plates from Transnistria-registered cars. Under the legislation, policemen must issue administrative liability tickets to the driver/owner of the car, not just arbitrarily remove the plates without giving explanations about the essence of the violation, says Postica. The association realizes that this is not an easy task for the Government. Re-registering vehicles on the right bank of the Nistru is virtually impossible since the Government of Moldova stands resolute in its unwillingness to accept any documents issued by the separatists whatsoever. However, the constitutional authorities should have produced a solution by now; after all, 17 years have passed since the end of the armed conflict on the Nistru, considers Promo-Lex’s layer. On November 7, Vladimir Molojen, the Minister of Information Development at that time, told reporters that, from 1 January 2008, the motor vehicles registered in the Transnistrian region and not registered with the Moldovan authorities would not be allowed to leave Moldova. From 1 January 2009, these cars would be denied access to the territory controlled by the constitutional authorities of Moldova and to the neighboring states – Romania and Ukraine. According to the Government, the owners of such vehicles will be able to re-register with the Moldovan authorities. When the car owners get Moldovan registration numbers, they will also have to legalize clearance documents for the vehicles. The vehicles brought into Moldova before 1993 will not need clearance documents. The owners of the other means of transport will have to pay the difference between the clearance tax in Transnistria and the one levied in Moldova. According to Molojen, the tax levied on the left bank of the Nistru is only 25-30% the value of the tax levied in Moldova.