TRANSNISTRIAN AUTHORITIES PRESERVE 70% SALARY AND PENSION PAYMENT AND REFUSE DEPRECIATING RUBLE

Transnistrian authorities decline local businesses’ proposals to establish a real, market exchange rate for the local ruble, deciding to preserve in July the payment of salaries and pensions in the size of 70% from sums, accrued.

According to Tiraspol leader Yevgeny Shevchuk’s official website, chairman of the unrecognized Transnistrian Moldovan republic (PMR) government Tatiana Turanskaya reported during the meeting that revenues to the state budget as of end of June are 21% lower than the last year level, while the state debt to citizens makes around 300 million rubles (US$27 million) due to payment of salaries and pensions in the size of 70%.

“Economic agents propose to depreciate the PMR ruble and pay salaries and pensions in full. But in this case a considerable growth of inflation may happen, the cost of living may increase, while population’s real revenues may register a decline”, she said.

According to the prime minister, most of enterprises are lowering their producing volumes and, correspondingly, reduce the tax payments to the budget, as well as salaries to workers, despite the state assistance in the form of lowering of tariffs on energy sources and tax incentives.

She said to Shevchuk that the government received no concrete proposals with calculations, which would be proportional to the sum of needs and would allow improving the economic situation and ensuring the financing of social payments in full.

Shevchuk ordered the government to conduct a working meeting within two weeks on seeking additional sources to mitigate the crisis in socio-economic sector, caused by non-payment of wages and pensions in full, reminding that this is a forced measure, which is directed to supporting the currency in a stable manner, preserve the exchange rate of the national ruble currency. The ministry of economic development was ordered to prepare an analysis of causes of the decrease in tax revenues on all the major taxpayers.

Infotag’s dossier: Due to a difficult financial and economic situation, the Transnistrian government decided at the beginning of 2015 that March salaries and pensions will be paid in the size of 70% of the accrued with repayment of the rest of sum with the accumulation of funds in the budget. Similar procedure had been introduced in mid-2014. PMR authorities explain difficulties mainly by economic blockade of Transnistria from the part of Moldova and Ukraine, However, local economic agents blame local authorities, who are administratively keeping the exchange rate at the level of 2012, which makes the production unprofitable, while goods – uncompetitive.