Russia faces trouble financing allies: Transnistria lacks money for pensions, benefits


It is the first time when the Kremlin has refused to finance a controlled territory, the unrecognised republic of Transnistria, Russian newspaper Nezavisimaya Gazeta reports with a reference to a source in Transnistrian ‘parliament’.

The self-proclaimed republic counted on receiving $100 mln to give out pension payments and social benefits to its citizens.

According to the source, giving reasons for the refusal, Moscow said it was going through financial problems.

Meanwhile, the economy of Transnistria, where over 500,000 people live, has been brought to the crisis point. Its debt for energy resorces reached $5 bn, its GDP being only $400 mln.

Transnistria (also called TransDniestr or Transdniestria) which made an attempt to enter the international arena in 1990 is recognised solely by Russian satellites Abkhasia and South Ossetia.

It is located mostly on a strip of land between the River Dniester and the eastern Moldovan border with Ukraine. Unrecognised by any United Nations member state, Transnistria is formally part of the  Republic of Moldova. Due to Russian military presence in Transnistria, the European Court of Human Rights considers Transnistria ‘under the effective authority or at least decisive influence of Russia’.  

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