... surpassed those to Russia.
[17]
Today Brussels is insisting that Tiraspol shift its trade towards the format of the emerging deep and comprehensive free trade area with Moldova, with these effective preferences expiring on January 1, 2016.
[18]
As for Moldova, it is trying to exploit the situation in order to impose regulative control over Transnistrian enterprises.
[19]
The Ukrainian crisis is making the life of Tiraspol much harder. Since consumer demand in Ukraine and Russia is falling, Transnistrian companies are losing their eastern markets. Moreover, in spring 2015, Kiev strengthened its blockade of Transnistrian exports by restricting Ukrainian supplies and the banning delivery of excised items to the TMR.
[20]
...
... from Brussels, given the split in the society and the deep conflicts of interests between the tycoons leading the ruling alliance.
In summer 2015, a new spike in political instability is expected (Gagauzia, Balti, Taraclia), when local elections in Moldova take place. In addition, external risks in the region continue to gain momentum – trade sanctions and the Ukrainian crisis are exacerbated by economic problems in the Russian Federation. The devaluation of the Russian rouble and the slowdown of economic growth in the Russian Federation are already affecting the Republic of Moldova due to diminished money transfers from abroad and the decline in demand for its workforce....
... events in Ukraine, the situation in Transnistria (the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic) may seem rosy. Although this takes nothing away from its drama. The most serious challenges arise due to two factors: the signing of an Association Agreement between Moldova and the European Union; and the policy of the new regime in Kiev, for which the pro-Russian enclave in Transnistria is as much of a thorn in its side as the breakaway Donbas region.
The creation of a free trade area between Moldova and the European Union that does not include Transnistria could seriously damage the region’s economic ...
