The crisis faced by the Transnistrian region could be overcome by the end of 2016, anticipated the leader of Transnistria Yevgheny Shevchuk. He stated for a local TV channel that the period between May and September this year will be probably the most difficult one for fulfilling the budget, IPN reports.

According to Yevgheny Shevchuk, in 2015 the Transnistrian budget can lose about US$100 million owing to internal and external crisis factors. He reminded about the proposal to introduce the Russian ruble into circulation in the region in parallel with the Transnistrian ruble. “We may return to this idea when we overcome the current economic and financial crisis,” he stated.

The Transnistrian leader also said that the economic and budgetary situation in the region is influenced by the politically motivated decisions of Ukraine, including the restriction of the importation of goods into the region and the fact that the mechanism of commercial exchanges between Chisinau and Tiraspol hasn’t been yet adjusted.

According to the publication “Transnistrian Economic Reality”, produced by the independent think tank “Expert-Grup”, Transnistria’s budget deficit in 2015 will represent about 40% of the expenditure. The existence of an enormous budget gap is a constant problem of the region and the worsening of the economic situation only deepened this constraint.