PREMIER MAKES PUBLIC SMUGGLING SCHEMES THAT WORKED VIA DUTY-FREE SHOPS IN TRANSNISTRIA

On Thursday, Prime Minister Maya Sandu made public a de-classified document on the smuggling schemes that used to be run via duty-free shops situated in Transnistria.

According to the document published in the social networks, upon the introduction of amendments to the tax legislation in 2015, which legitimized the duty-free trade in “the territory that escaped the Moldovan constitutional authorities’ control [Transnistria]”, smuggling activities, first and foremost cigarette smuggling, began on the Moldova-Ukraine border by using the said scheme.

For an example, the document describes the activities run by a Transnistrian limited-liability company called Altai. Of its 2439 import transactions total worth 1 billion lei, made via the duty-free shops, 970 million lei worth of transactions accounted for cigarettes.

“According to intelligence reports, a greater part of cigarettes were intended for various groups of smugglers specializing on European Union countries. Throughout 2015, EU law enforcement agencies revealed contraband cigarettes of the brands that were present in the duty-free shops”, said the document.

On the basis of the data revealed, the document authors are recommending to cancel the above-mentioned amendments, which step will suppress contraband flows and rehabilitate Moldova’s image in the European institutions’ eyes.

Premier Sandu voiced confidence that the scheme shall be necessarily crushed down soon. For this, it is necessary to approve the draft Law on prohibiting the duty-free trade in Moldova in a final reading as soon as only possible, she said.