The Moldovan authorities should step up the efforts to inform the inhabitants of the Transnistrian region about the necessity of registering motor vehicles. As of September 1, 2021, the Transnistrian vehicles will be admitted to international road traffic only if they have neutral-design license plates. Such a recommendation was formulated by ex-Deputy Prime Minister for Reintegration, independent expert Alexandru Flenchea in an analytical note for the Institute for European Policies and Reforms. The author considers the implementation of the necessary legislation concerning the regime of crossing the Moldovan-Ukrainian state border will contribute to the better management of this and will represent an important element of the Transnistrian settlement process with the final objective of reintegrating the Republic of Moldova, IPN reports.
Alexandru Flenchea said the delay in implementing the decision concerning non-admission of vehicles without legal registration to international road traffic only fuels unjustified hopes as regards the keeping of the status-quo, perpetuating this way the state of uncertainty and illegality. The ambiguous public communication on the issue affects Moldova’s credibility and undermines the Transnistrian settlement process and, respectively, the country reintegration objective.
The absolute figures provide an incomplete picture, without an explanation of the situation in the region and an understanding of the dynamics of the process. According to the data of the Reintegration Policies Bureau, 4,778 Transnistrian vehicles were registered with neutral-design license plates by April 1, 2021, 225 of which in March 2021. Also, 11,366 drivers from the region “pre-changed” the driver’s licenses and 36,000 internationally recognized driver’s licenses issued by the Public Services Agency are held by inhabitants of the region.
Alexandru Flenchea noted that if the vehicle registration offices between April 1 and Augusta 31, 2021 work at full capacity, they could register 7,500 vehicles. If we add the 4,778 already registered vehicles, the total will be 12,278 vehicles. This is one third of the total maximum necessity if taking into account the number of Moldovan driver’s licenses held by inhabitants of the region. If we take into account only the licenses that were pre-changed during the past three years, the demand will be fully satisfied.
The expert recommends the Moldovan authorities to continuously inform the participants in the 5+2 format talks about the measures taken to implement the new rules as of September 1, 2021. This effort will strengthen the position of Chisinau and the image of a responsible, transparent and predictable player.
The analysis was carried out in the framework of the Institute for European Policies and Reforms’ project “Thematic Analysis of Public Policies” that is implemented with support from the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Moldova.
