Transnistrian language. Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic: map, government, president, currency and history

Story:

On August 2, 1940, at the 7th session of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the Law on the Formation of the Union Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic was adopted.

After the creation of the MSSR, numerous migrants from Russia and Ukraine went to the territory of the modern Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic, helping to create a local industry. Most of the industrial enterprises of the Moldavian SSR (now the Republic of Moldova) were initially concentrated on the territory of Transnistria, since the economy of the rest of Moldavia (Bessarabia) during its stay in Romania (1918-1940) was mainly agrarian in nature and was the most backward of all the provinces Romania, and industrial enterprises, mainly engaged in the processing of agricultural products (the share of food industry products in 1937 was 92.4%).

The new geopolitical situation did not last long - already in 1941, Germany and its allies attacked the USSR, and Romania got the opportunity to regain the territories annexed a year ago by the Soviet Union. In addition to Bessarabia and northern Bukovina, which were part of Greater Romania, the entire region between the Southern Bug and Dniester rivers (including the cities of Balta, Odessa and the right-bank part of Nikolaev), which was called Transnistria ("Transnistria"), was under the control of the Romanian administration.

In 1944, with the entry of the Red Army into the Balkans, the borders returned to the position that existed at the beginning of the Great Patriotic War.

In 1956, the 14th Army was deployed in the Moldavian SSR (including the territory of Transnistria). She remained here after the collapse of the USSR, guarding the depots of weapons and ammunition - stocks created in case of hostilities in the South-Eastern theater of operations in Europe. In 1984, the army headquarters was transferred from Chisinau to Tiraspol.

In 1990, before the collapse of the USSR, industrial facilities on the territory of the modern Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic provided 40% of Moldova's GDP and produced 90% of electricity, since in the village. Dnestrovsk, the Moldavian State District Power Plant was built, which was supposed to produce electricity for export to the CMEA countries.

The Pridnestrovian Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic was proclaimed as a Soviet republic within the USSR at the II Extraordinary Congress of Deputies of all levels of Pridnestrovie, held in Tiraspol on September 2, 1990.

On December 22, 1990, the President of the USSR Mikhail Gorbachev signed a decree "On measures to normalize the situation in the SSR Moldova", in the 4th paragraph of which it was decided "to consider null and void ... decisions of the II Congress of Deputies of Councils of different levels from some settlements of Transnistria dated September 2 1990 on the proclamation of ... the Moldavian Transnistrian Soviet Socialist Republic.

On August 27, 1991, the Parliament of the SSR of Moldova adopted Law No. 691 "On the Declaration of Independence", which declared null and void the law of August 2, 1940 "On the Formation of the Union Moldavian SSR", according to which the MASSR became part of the Moldavian SSR, emphasizing that “without asking the population of Bessarabia, the north of Bukovina and the Hertz region, forcibly captured on June 28, 1940, as well as the population of the Moldavian ASSR (Transnistria), formed on October 12, 1924, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, in violation of its constitutional powers, adopted on August 2, 1940 the law "On the Formation of the Union Moldavian SSR". Often, supporters of the sovereignty of the PMR argue that by their decision, the deputies of Moldova outlawed the only legal document regulating the presence of Pridnestrovie as part of Moldova. However, since the UN member states recognize the independence of Moldova precisely in the context of the collapse of the USSR, and not in accordance with the law of 1991, thus considering it the successor state of the Moldavian SSR, the arguments of the PMR are not considered within the UN. Despite this, the law of 08/27/1991 in Moldova itself has not been canceled and continues to operate.

On November 5, 1991, in connection with the collapse of the USSR, the PMSSR was renamed the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic. In the Moldavian version, the name sounds like "Dniester Moldavian Republic", which can be assessed as a claim to both banks of the Dniester, that is, to the whole of Moldova.

Over the past years, the Moldovan and Transnistrian authorities have made several attempts to improve relations. The parties were almost able to reach an agreement in 2003 on the basis of a settlement plan proposed by Dmitry Kozak, who at that time held the post of deputy head of the Russian presidential administration. According to this plan, Moldova was to become an "asymmetric federation", while the PMR and Gagauzia would receive a special status and the opportunity to block bills that are undesirable for the autonomies. Moldova pledged to maintain neutrality and demobilize the army, as well as grant Russia the right to station Russian troops on the territory of Transnistria for a period of 20 years as "guarantors" of the conflict settlement. Literally at the last moment, under pressure from the OSCE and student protests, Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin refused to sign the agreement, saying that it gives unilateral advantages to the PMR and has a hidden goal - the recognition of the independence of Transnistria. Negotiations resumed only in 2005 within the framework of the regional organization GUUAM on the basis of proposals submitted by Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko. According to the new plan, by August 2005, the Moldovan parliament was to adopt a law on the special status of Transnistria, according to which the region should be left with a flag, coat of arms and three state languages - Russian, Ukrainian and Moldovan. If Moldova ceases to be an independent state, Pridnestrovie will be able to withdraw from its composition. In December 2005, the PMR, under the control of international observers, was to hold early parliamentary elections, and Moldova was obliged to recognize their results. Then Moldova and the PMR, with the participation of Russia, Ukraine and the OSCE, were supposed to delineate powers between the parties within the framework of the law on the status of Transnistria. Moldova then had to sign an international treaty obliging it to comply with the law on Transnistria. The guarantors were supposed to be Russia, Ukraine, the OSCE, and possibly the EU and the US.

The "Yushchenko Plan" allowed for direct communication between representatives of the world community and the PMR without the participation of Moldova. The document did not contain requirements for the withdrawal of the Russian military contingent from the territory of the PMR, which Moldova insists on.

On July 22, 2005, the Moldovan parliament approved the draft law "on the status of Transnistria". According to this document, Russian peacekeepers must leave the region before December 31, 2006, and the territory of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic is part of Moldova on the basis of autonomy. The status of Transnistria is defined as "an administrative-territorial entity in the form of a republic within the Republic of Moldova". The region should enter the single economic, customs and monetary space of Moldova, but will receive its own constitution and government formed by the Supreme Council of Transnistria - a legislative body that will be elected by popular vote. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov noted that "it seems that Moldova has set a course for the economic strangulation of Pridnestrovie"

In May 2006 consultations were held between the Russian Foreign Ministry and the presidents of the Transnistrian Moldavian Republic and Abkhazia.

In June 2006, PMR President Igor Smirnov announced that the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic was ready to take Moldova's place in the CIS if it left the Commonwealth.

In June 2006, the heads of the PMR, Abkhazia and South Ossetia at a summit in Sukhumi, in addition to the Commonwealth of Unrecognized States (CIS-2), concluded an Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance and signed a Declaration on the establishment of a Community for democracy and the rights of peoples, which involve not only economic and political cooperation between the republics, but also the creation of collective peacekeeping armed forces that can replace Russian peacekeepers and jointly repel possible military actions of “small metropolises” and attempts to resolve the situation by military means.

In June 2006, the President and the Russian Foreign Ministry announced that the fate of the unrecognized states should be determined by the will of their populations on the basis of the right to self-determination.

For the independence of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR) and its subsequent free accession to Russian Federation(RF) 97% of the citizens of Transnistria who took part in the referendum expressed their opinion. 2.3% of voters voted against integration with the Russian Federation.

3.4% of the citizens of Pridnestrovie spoke out in favor of abandoning the course towards the independence of the PMR and the subsequent entry of the republic into Moldova, and 94.6% of the participants in the referendum were against such integration. 2% of voters could not decide on a choice.

According to the official data of the Central Election Commission of Transnistria, 78.6% of citizens who had the right to vote, or about 306 thousand out of 389 thousand people, took part in the referendum on September 17, 2006.

Recognizing countries:

Flag:

Map:

Territory:

Demography:

The population is 513,400 people (01/01/2012). In 1990, the population of Transnistria was 730,000 inhabitants. Thus, the natural increase was about -1.58% per year. Until 1992, there was a constant trend towards population growth, but from this year a constant decrease in the number of inhabitants begins. Males predominate among the working-age population.

According to the 2004 PMR census, Moldovans make up 31.9% of the population of the republic. 30.3% of the population are Russians, 28.8% - Ukrainians, Bulgarians (2%), Belarusians and others also live. In general, residents of 35 nationalities live on the territory of Pridnestrovie, including Armenians, Jews, Gagauz, Tatars, etc.

Religion:

The main part of the population professes Orthodoxy.

Among Protestant Christians there are officially registered in the PMR: Pentecostals, Baptists, Salvation Army, Seventh Day Adventists, charismatics.

Jehovah's Witnesses actively preach.

There are few religious communities of Jews, Old Believers, Armenian Gregorians, Roman Catholics, Greek Catholics (Uniates), Buddhists, Muslims.

Languages:

Russian, Ukrainian, Moldovan (based on Cyrillic graphics)

Armed forces:

The armed forces of the PMR include ground forces, air forces, internal and border troops, as well as Cossack formations. The regular units consist of about seven thousand people. In voluntary Cossack detachments - a thousand people. The reservists or people's militia number about 80 thousand people. The army consists of four motorized rifle brigade, one artillery brigade, one anti-aircraft artillery brigade, an aviation detachment, special units and one Cossack regiment. The Ministry of Internal Affairs has a separate special-purpose brigade "Dniester", and as part of the Ministry of State Security - special battalion"Delta". Mostly obsolete equipment is in service - more than a hundred BTR-60 and BTR-70, more than a hundred different artillery systems and mortars, including Grad multiple rocket launchers.

One of the phenomena modern world- "unrecognized states". They have their own names, capitals and constitutions; their economy, their documents, their currency; their ideology, and often their nation... but their passports are not valid anywhere outside their territory, usually very modest; their currency will not be accepted by any bank of the Earth, except for its own; not to see foreign embassies in their capitals; they are not even marked on the maps. Sometimes they are recognized - by several countries (like Abkhazia), half the world (like Palestine) or the whole world (like South Sudan). The former USSR, as the last collapsed empire, is especially rich in such "fragments" - Transnistria, Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Nagorno-Karabakh, and in the past also Gagauzia (1990-1994) and Ichkeria (1990-2000).

They all started with wars. And without visiting Pridnestrovie, you involuntarily imagine it as if not a "hot spot", then a "besieged fortress". It was all the more surprising to find on this narrow strip between the Dniester and Ukraine, albeit a poor, but quite a living state. Most of all, the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic resembles some kind of national autonomy of Russia, such as Udmurtia or Khakassia. But the PMR is completely different from Moldova
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I will also tell you about Bendery, Tiraspol, Rybnitsa and the rural outback, which I visited from wwwwwwwvv and bes_arab , but first - general impressions: people, signs, features and the central square of the capital.

As a disclaimer. It is necessary to write about the places involved in conflicts either 100% positively or 100% negatively - after all, the slightest sympathy for "that" side by "that" side is unforgivable. If I see at least 1% of the good in the PMR, I am a bloody imperialist who dreams of seeing Russian tanks in Chisinau, Tbilisi and Riga; if I see at least 1% of the bad in the PMR, I have sold out to the West, I’m faping on Saakashvili and writing an order for your Regional Committee. And if not 1%, but about 50%, as in any country? In general, I am mentally preparing to be under cross-throwing, and I warn you, as always - for rudeness and becoming personal, as well as an insult to any country - a ban. And one more thing - keep in mind that I was a guest here and not for long, so much of what you may consider malicious "propaganda" from either side, in fact, may be just my accidental mistake.

2. In the center of Bender.

Transnistria is very small, even compared to Moldova: the area is 4.16 thousand square kilometers (this is 4 times larger than Moscow within the Moscow Ring Road), the population is 518 thousand people, which is less than Chisinau alone, and in principle, according to these two indicators, the MDP roughly corresponds to Luxembourg, the largest of Europe's microstates. The main cities are Tiraspol (148 thousand inhabitants) and Bendery (98 thousand), as well as, from south to north, the regional centers of Slobodzeya (20 thousand, the only one south of Tiraspol), Grigoriopol (9.5 thousand), Dubossary (25 thousand), Rybnitsa (50 thousand), (9.2 thousand). Moldovans (32%), Russians (30%) and Ukrainians (29%) live here approximately equally, and since PMR passports are not recognized in the world in the same way as she herself, almost everyone has dual citizenship, mostly some from these three countries.

3. In the center of Rybnitsa.

The prehistory of Transnistria is somewhat more complicated, and fully explains its isolation from Moldova. It became part of Russia 20 years earlier - in 1792, the southern part - after the next Russian-Turkish war, and the northern - according to the II section of the Commonwealth. Accordingly, historically, the southern half of Transnistria belonged to Novorossia (Kherson province, Tiraspol district), the northern half - to Podolia (Podolsk province, Baltsky and Olgopolsky districts), while only Bendery was included in the Bessarabian province. At the same time, in Romanian historiography there is a point of view that even in those days Slavicized Moldavians lived beyond the Dniester, therefore the left bank of the Dniester with Odessa is, as it were, a primordially Romanesque territory. It is interesting that if in Romania and in the West this territory is called Transnistria ("Transnistria"), in the local Moldavian it is called Nistrenia (Dniester region).

4. At the market in Tiraspol.

Be that as it may, the first prototype of the PMR was the Moldavian ASSR (1924-40), which did not include Bendery, but included the north of the present Odessa region - its first centers were Balta (1924-28), Birzula (1928-29, now Kotovsk) and finally Tiraspol. There were several such "as if hinting" regions in the USSR of the 1930s: the Karelian-Finnish SSR, the Buryat-Mongolian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic ... but only in Moldova things went beyond hints, and perhaps if it were not for the MoldASSR, we would now have the most Tiraspol region of Ukraine, or even just areas of Odessa and Vinnitsa regions. But about the events of 1989-1992 - later ... The Romanians created their prototype of the PMR in World War II: Transnistria with its capital in Odessa, even during the era of occupation, did not belong to Bessarabia and consisted of 13 own counties.

The first thing that looks different here after Moldova is the people. Completely different faces and mood: there is no trace of Moldovan relaxed slovenliness. The faces of people here are hard, concentrated, I would even say - gloomy. Expressing not even the dramatic resentment typical of the Slavs for everyone and everything from the president to the ex-husband, but a stoic readiness for the impending disaster.

At the same time, I would not say that people here are evil and unfriendly. Domestic rudeness, according to my impressions, is more in Moldova. I spoke a little with passers-by here, but where I spoke, they usually listened attentively and explained in detail. It's just that the people here are as if in suspense - well, something like if you've been sitting in line for more than an hour and you don't know whether they will give you a vital document or not. Pridnestrovians have been living in this queue for 20 years.

But still they live, but do not survive. More precisely, they "survive" in the same sense of the word that is invested in it in our outback - the republic, to put it mildly, is not rich. According to statistics, GDP per capita in Moldova and the PMR is approximately the same, but I asked about the real situation on both sides of the Dniester. As I understand it, Chisinau is much richer than Pridnestrovie, Pridnestrovians even go there to work, but the outback in Moldova is poorer than the outback of the PMR. At the same time, the presence of a "firm hand" and humanitarian assistance from Russia affects - for example, pensions in Transnistria are about one and a half times higher than in Moldova, but still beggarly even by the standards of the Russian Federation ($80 and $120, respectively). But the widespread assertion that roads in Transnistria are much better than in Moldova, to be honest, I can’t confirm - in my opinion, it’s about the same.

At the same time, the people here, it seemed to me, are less patriarchal and more urban compared to the Moldovans. An indicator is that in Moldova I almost did not see informals, while in the PMR one comes across classic nefers in leather jackets, and bobcaters, and hipsters, and girls with blue hair. Girls in Transnistria are beautiful (multinationality affects), well-groomed, often very stylishly dressed.

9. Schoolchildren from Rybnitsa on a community work day.

Here schoolchildren in Bendery collect donations to help orphans. The action is quite amusingly framed - you donate money to them, they give you a "palm" of colored paper with one sticky side, and you stick it on a sheet as a sign of involvement. On the day of my arrival, two such groups walked around Bendery, and one should have seen with what seriousness and indifference they approached the matter.

In general, I liked and remembered the Pridnestrovian youth. Many high school students here have unexpectedly bright faces, almost like in Soviet cinema. At the same time, gopniks and other aggressive bipedal fauna have a larger population here than in Moldova, but this is already a problem for the entire East Slavic world.

Schoolchildren on excursions in the Bendery Fortress:

Bayanist in Tiraspol. The southern appearance of many Pridnestrovians should not be surprising: the largest minority of Pridnestrovie are Bulgarians (2% of the population), living mainly in Parkany, the largest village in the PMR (10.5 thousand inhabitants), through which Bendery and Tiraspol have grown together (even intercity trolleybus route No. 19 runs mainly along the Parkany). Bulgarians have the citizenship of Bulgaria, that is, the European Union, and generally keep to themselves. It seemed to me that other Pridnestrovians envy them.

Another interesting point: before the trip, I was sure that seeing a policeman in Moldova is a rarity, and in the PMR a cop stands on every corner. As a result, everything turned out to be the opposite: in Moldovan cities there are a lot of cops even after Russia and Kazakhstan (and in addition there are very strict laws), in the PMR I saw policemen only a couple of times in passing, but three times a car passed by with the inscription "Police". I don’t even remember traffic cops on the roads. And in principle, I didn’t even really see what uniform the PMR policemen had. But there are really a lot of people in the Unrecognized Country - these are the military, especially in Bendery:

In general, before the trip, I imagined Pridnestrovie as a light-dictatorship, like Belarus or Kazakhstan, with a lifelong Leader of the Nation and the opposition within the statistical error. Nevertheless, Igor Smirnov, who ruled the country for 20 years and once led the struggle for independence, recently lost the elections in a democratic way: Yevgeny Shevchuk won, gaining 38% and 75% of the vote, respectively, in two rounds, and the case did without the traditional post-Soviet space post-election squabbles and maydanchikov. Smirnov was described to me something like this: “He did a lot for the country, you don’t have to agree with those who hate him ... but in recent years 8-10 bronzed and began to steal "- that's it in excess of typical of the former USSR.

The second aspect that you immediately notice here after Moldova is ... but you didn’t guess. This is the industry:

Such a division into agrarian-nationalist and industrial-pro-Soviet parts exists in many post-Soviet countries. The most famous example is Ukraine, Kazakhstan is a little less noticeable in this sense. But in its purest form, this section was precisely in the Moldavian SSR. Firstly, the presence of a clear border - the Dniester; secondly, if in Eastern Ukraine there are black soils and agro-industrial complex, and in Western Ukraine there are still several large factories, and Southern Kazakhstan is not inferior to Northern Kazakhstan in terms of industrialization, there is almost no large heavy industry in Moldova to the west of the Dniester, while to the east there is stupidly not enough space for agriculture . The industrial center of the PMR is Rybnitsa, where its own metallurgical plant is located; there are powerful factories in Tiraspol (say, Elektromash, whose director was Smirnov), and in Bendery, as well as a state district power station in Dnestrovsk and a hydroelectric power station in Dubossary .... Although only 12% of the area and population of the Moldavian SSR remained behind the PMR, here half of its industry is concentrated, including 2/3 of the electric power industry. In addition, unlike Moldova, the PMR receives gas from Russia at preferential prices (and often on credit, and again Moldova pays for the debts), and for a long time the independence of Pridnestrovie was guaranteed not only by the Russian army, but also by the opportunity to shut off the pipeline to Moldovans.
Well, in general, where industry is, there is nostalgia for the Union, sympathy for Russia as its successor, faith in a "firm hand" and a fair distribution of wealth, and where the peasantry is, there is nationalism and small business, incompatible with the Soviet past. It seems to me that in Ukraine, too, the contradictions are not so much civilizational or religious as class-based—the abyss between the peasantry and the proletariat.

And only in third place in the order of differences is the language. Pridnestrovie is also unique in that, in fact, the Moldavian language (and not the dialect of Romanian) has been preserved only here. Firstly, it is still in Cyrillic here (and do not forget that the Vlachs used the Cyrillic alphabet until the 1860s), and secondly, if in Moldova many Moldovan words proper were recognized as vernacular and in literary language were replaced by Romanian ones, this did not happen in Transnistria either. However, frankly, Moldovan is not in use here. I heard the assertion that not a single book in Moldavian has been published in the PMR yet - I don’t presume to judge how true this is.

At the same time, three languages are considered de jure official - Moldovan, Russian and Ukrainian:

In fact, things are about the same as in the already mentioned national autonomies of the Russian Federation such as Mordovia or Karelia - the environment here is 90% Russian-speaking, Ukrainian and Moldovan are present mainly in official signs and in the rural outback (explanation for well-you-understood-who - in the Russian Federation, the republic is a republic of strife, and for example, in Tatarstan and Bashkiria, the situation with languages \u200b\u200bis completely different).

Another myth about Transnistria is that it is supposedly a "living museum of the USSR". Well, there are really a couple of "exhibits":

But in general, no special socialism, especially in landscapes, was noticed in the PMR. Belarus is much more suitable for the role of the "living USSR". For example, there is no less outdoor advertising here than in Moldova, Ukraine or Russia.

The cult of Victory is clearly expressed even in Right-Bank Ukraine, even in Volhynia (which is already Western Ukraine), so it won’t pull on “Soviet specifics” in any way:

And there are monuments to the victims of repression:

In general, soviet-style is nothing more than a layout for European backpackers. Perhaps the only attribute is a large number of posters and slogans on the theme of love for the Motherland, and the flag of the Moldavian SSR minus the hammer and sickle:

Something else is much more real - there really was a war here:

23. House of Soviets in Bendery.

Moreover, in June 1992, only a decisive battle took place for Bendery, and skirmishes, provocations and skirmishes happened here before, mainly in the Dubossary region. You can read more about the history of the conflict on Wikipedia. About what was here in those years, I asked people on both sides of the Dniester. Here are some approximate quotes:
- Moldova, a man of pro-Russian-anti-Romanian views: Pridnestrovians simply saw what was going on here, the antics of all these nationalists, the course towards unification with Romania, the destruction of advanced for the Union factories such as the Chisinau computer one. And although there were a lot of scumbags among those who fought there, all sorts of ragamuffins who were simply given the opportunity to shoot and handed a machine gun upon presentation of a passport, we respect the Pridnestrovians for defending their independence with weapons in their hands. And in general, many here share the ideas of Transnistria, but damn it - this is a bandit state! Pirate Republic! It used to get to the point that there was one regime at the Bendery customs, another at Dubossary, a third at Rybnitsa - as the local brothers liked. It's a shame - they discredit ideas that could become popular in Moldova.
- Moldova, a person of more neutral views. What happened in Transnistria is in fact nothing more than a "revolt of the Red Directors". After all, there are huge factories, and this is a lot of money, and the directors understood that the new government would throw them off(...and destroy the factories - my note), and therefore they skillfully played the anti-Romanian card, becoming state power from directors.
- Transnistria, patriot. For the first 15 years, there was no such question at all for us - "what happened there." We all knew what we were fighting for, and only in the last 5 years some alternative versions began to appear. All this is nonsense. And another nonsense that it was a national conflict - Moldovans fought on this side, including Russians on that side ( which is confirmed by the lists of the dead - my note ) .
In general, the inhabitants of Moldova unanimously agree that Pridnestrovie exists in the interests of local oligarchs, and on both sides of the border they say - "our friends live there" (we are talking about ordinary people).

24. Rybnitsa and Rezina, between them the Dniester.

In general, although it all started with a war, now the relations of one and a half states are surprising. First, the fact that between them (unlike, for example, Georgia-Abkhazia) in principle there is a relationship. If a foreigner caught in a visit can be imprisoned in Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh, Moldovans in Transnistria regularly ride themselves. Pridnestrovians go to Chisinau (which is almost a metropolis for them) to work and walk - it is much more accessible to them than Odessa. In principle, Moldova in relation to the PMR has taken the position "whatever the child amuses ...", "if you want to consider yourself independent, consider it." I already wrote about the one-sided border - from the PMR side there is a full-fledged border control, from the side of Moldova, at the most, a reinforced police station. Through the PMR, it is not a problem to enter or leave Moldova illegally, and in general, this border creates more inconvenience for Moldovans than for Pridnestrovians. There are, however, a number of nuances: first, if you entered Moldova through the PMR, you must voluntarily go to the authorities and register (recently, they say, there is an exception for passengers of the Moscow-Chisinau train going through Bendery - Moldovan border guards meet them on the train), if you came to Moldova, and you want to leave through the PMR to Ukraine, it is better to have both a foreign and an internal passport of the Russian Federation or Ukraine: Pridnestrovie does not put any stamps, and you get to the Ukrainian border guards with an open Moldovan border, which is fraught with extortion of a bribe. Yes, and the option of two passports is bad because if you decide to come to Moldova again, there will be problems at the entrance because of the "hanging stamp". For this reason, I returned from Transnistria to Chisinau and traveled by train through the north.
But with currencies, the separation is complete: in Moldova - lei, in Pridnestrovie - their own special rubles - "Suvoriki" with Suvorov and inscriptions in three languages (moreover, Ukrainian in a couple of circulations were with errors). Lei in the PMR is not a problem to change, but it is pointless to travel to Moldova with the Transnistrian ruble.

25. On the Moldovan coast. View from Transnistria.

Although from time to time all sorts of provocations happen between the two banks of the Dniester - either they jam cellular communications to each other, or they try to establish a transport blockade, or vice versa - in 1999-2000, while the Chisinau airport was under reconstruction, Tiraspol accepted and sent its flights. In general, the posts of Russian peacekeepers are still standing:

And the Pridnestrovians do not regret that they separated from Moldova. On both sides of the Dniester, they regret those who died in that war, the culprit of which is called Mircea Snegur, "an absolutely irresponsible ruler." I was surprised that the attitude towards General Lebed is positive even in Moldova - "this man stopped the bloodshed." Yes, he stopped, threatening to fire a volley from "Gradov" in Chisinau, in fact, taking the PMR from Moldova by force, but here everything is somewhat more complicated: Pridnestrovie, although small, it so happened that most of the Soviet military equipment was located on its territory: for example, even now Moldova does not have a single tank, there were none then either. If the war broke out, it could drag on for years and claim tens of thousands of lives, as in Chechnya or Tajikistan. And gratitude to Lebed for the defeat inflicted in this vein is quite humanistic. The Japanese, however, are also grateful to the United States for Hiroshima, but after all, Lebed never fired, but only threatened.

But the assertion that Pridnestrovians live only in fear and hatred for Romania, which they have made here a national scarecrow, I somehow cannot confirm. In my opinion, Romanianization is much more feared in Moldova itself, while Pridnestrovians do not really remember Romania in everyday life, it does not play any role in their lives. Although, of course, it is surprising to what extent in the 1990s people were afraid of this prospect - and Transnistria, and the Gagauz, and most of the Moldovans themselves.

Now, especially on the news, to overestimate the role foreign policy not worth it. Both in Moldova and in the PMR, such problems as: there are no jobs, pensions are below the subsistence level, bureaucrats steal, housing is unaffordable, prices are rising, trains are being canceled, etc.

Although political life unrecognized state has a number of curiosities of its own. Since many Pridnestrovians are citizens of Russia, that is, voters, and there are familiar logos and names here:

Ukraine, apparently out of solidarity with Moldova, does not become so impudent (or maybe its parties are simply not allowed here), although I do not exclude that the "Party of Regions" or "Fatherland" can be contacted here:

Although this is what blew my mind the most: the embassies of Abkhazia and South Ossetia! They even have a "second CIS" - the Commonwealth of Unrecognized States. And judging by other people's photographs, Pridnestrovie is the most state among them.

There is even a holding company here - "Sheriff", which all travelers mention in the context of "Sheriff's guards chasing photographers." He owns most of the supermarkets, gas stations, oil depots and car services in the republic, his own TV channel, all cellular communications and the Internet in Transnistria, as well as a giant sports complex on the outskirts of Tiraspol and since 2006 the Kvint brandy factory, and 12 thousand people work in all this - 2.5% of the total population of the country. I have never been inside these supermarkets, but in general they say that in Moldova it is much better with shops and catering, if only because of greater competition.

At the same time, Sheriff's subsidiary IDC, a monopoly on cellular communications in Transnistria, does not use the GSM format. What does it mean? Well, for example, the fact that in Tiraspol I did not catch a mobile phone with a Moldovan SIM card. The only thing that saves the situation a little is that Transnistria is very narrow, and in most of it the phone picks up the signals of Moldova and Ukraine.

Well, at the end of the post - about the main square of Tiraspol. The main street or square of the capital is almost always the facade of the state, and in Tiraspol it is very indicative. A huge (about 700x400 meters, including squares!) Square goes directly to the banks of the Dniester, and bears the name of Suvorov:

Alexander Suvorov founded Tiraspol as the Middle fortress of the Dniester line; Suvorov took Izmail, after which Transnistria became part of Russia. Yes, and a really spectacular equestrian monument to him was erected back in 1979 and immediately became a symbol of Tiraspol. In general, Suvorov plays almost the same role here as Stephen the Great in Moldova - of course, not every city has monuments to him, and Suvorov Street is far from always central, but he is here on all banknotes. Yes, and objectively - and who else?

Nearby is the Palace of Children's and Youth Creativity (the edge is visible) and a characteristic poster. One of the things I remember Tiraspol for is ornamental cabbage. Of course, I have seen it before, but nowhere else in such quantities. Cabbage beds are very colorful, they just smell like ordinary cabbage from the kitchen, and that's why I also remember Tiraspol with a cabbage smell.

Here is the building of the Government and the Supreme Council (in appearance, the 1980s), in front of which Lenin is more alive than all the living (however, after Russia, Belarus and Eastern Ukraine, this will not surprise anyone):

And on the contrary, closer to the banks of the Dniester - a military memorial:

At the wall - the Defender of Transnistria and an Afghan, similar to the hero of American action films:

On the "Pridnestrovian" monument are the names of 489 people who died in battles from this side (Moldova lost about the same number), behind the door is a museum, where I didn’t go anymore, since I was in a museum in Bendery. Among the surnames, I especially note these:

Next - the memorial of the Great Patriotic War: they fought for the Dniester, of course, not the same way as for the Dnieper, but very cruelly, and now there are huge memorials on the bridgeheads of the right bank (I never saw any of them) - for example,

After the collapse of a huge country that occupied a sixth of the land, many independent states were formed, which immediately faced many difficulties. And some the world even refuses to recognize. Such is the Pridnestrovian It inhabited by brave people who not only challenged the entire “civilized” humanity, but also withstood the reciprocal pressure. However, the history of this not universally recognized state is very interesting. Its appearance on the world map is due not only to the will of the population, but also to previous events. It so happened that since the eighteenth century this territory became part of the Russian Empire. But let's dive into the past a little deeper.

How the territory was formed

The history of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic is not very different from that of neighboring lands. In ancient times, these places were sparsely populated. Mostly Slavic and Turkic tribes lived here. At one time, the territory was part of Kievan Rus, then it was included in the Galicia-Volyn principality. In the 14th century, the land moved to As there were few inhabitants, the transition from one jurisdiction to another did not particularly affect people. Only in the eighteenth century, after these places became part of the Russian Empire, did changes begin to occur. Taking care of the protection of the borders, the state encouraged the migration of citizens to these places. The population has become multinational. Among its inhabitants there were Bulgarians and Russians, Germans and Greeks, and, of course, Moldovans. After the revolution, the Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was formed on this territory. It was part of the Ukrainian SSR. And only in 1939, when Romania was forced to return part of the previously occupied territories to the union, was the Moldavian SSR formed, which included these lands. To understand the motives for which the population living in this territory did not wish to remain part of the new Moldova, it is important to know its history.

Formation of the industrial complex

After the formation of the MSSR, the authorities began to send specialists from the Union republics here. Basically, the Ukrainians and Russians rebuilt the current territory. For political reasons, it was here that the main industrial enterprises were created. By the time of its formation in its current form, the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic provided 40% of the total GDP, generated 90% of electricity. In addition, the 14th Allied Army was based here, of course, the corresponding infrastructure was created. It turns out that the current Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic has concentrated on its territory almost the entire industrial potential of the country that was formed after the collapse of the USSR.

Official, but the formation of a new state

The incident happened when our previously huge country fell apart into fifteen parts. That is, this division was recognized by the UN, but by no means by residents. Since Moldova was historically formed from two very different territories, its population was divided into "camps". The center considered the territory whole. Only in Transnistria they had a different opinion. The Parliament of the MSSR adopted the "Declaration of Independence", which repealed the law on the formation of a republic within the Union. But the same act, as it were, freed the territory of Pridnestrovie from state ties with the new country, since it was included in the MSSR by a decision canceled by its parliament. In Tiraspol, they were not at a loss and proclaimed on November 5, 1991, the TMR (full name - the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic), which, in their understanding, was historically quite logical.

Administrative - territorial division

The Republic of PMR is unitary, consists of seven administrative units. They include five districts and two cities subordinate to the republic. These are Bendery and Tiraspol. The Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (photo above) has its own state symbols. The flag is red with a green stripe in the middle. In the corner are crossed hammer and sickle. In this territory there are eight cities and towns, one hundred and forty-three villages and four railway stations. Some of the settlements are under the administration of Moldova. In 2011, the population exceeded five hundred thousand people of thirty-five nationalities. Most of the people (40%) identify themselves as Moldovans, Ukrainians - 26%, Russians - 24%. The government of the PMR uses three state languages that are understandable to representatives of the main nationalities. The main religion is Christianity, although other groups of believers also work.

Geographical position

The Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (its map is available in the article) is a rather narrow strip of land sandwiched between Moldova and Ukraine. She has no access to the sea. The area of this country is 4163 square kilometers. For reference: this is a tenth of the former MSSR.

The President of the PMR works in the capital of the country. All government structures are located there. The terrain here is flat, sometimes there are beams. The lands are represented mainly by black soil. The climate here is temperate continental, there is not enough rainfall, but agriculture this does not harm, since a large river, the Dniester, flows through the territory. In addition, the republic also has minerals. PMR develops glass sands, deposits of gravel and building limestones. There is ceramic clay here. In the forests that are located on the slopes of the Dniester, wild boar, roe deer, partridge, hare, otter, fox, and ermine are found. Rivers supply fish, there are also sturgeons in reservoirs.

Conflict with Moldova

The self-proclaimed state was not recognized as the main part of the former MSSR, which, according to the UN definition, was its legal successor. It took a long time to resolve the conflict. The leadership of Moldova created a peace plan, according to which the PMR was to form an "asymmetric federation" with it. In fact, the document rejected the independence of the territory, which was supposed to officially become part of Moldova, albeit with broad powers. Tiraspol rejected the proposal, as it was based on the principle of demilitarization, which is completely unacceptable to the population. There was a threat of a serious armed conflict.

Currently, security here is supported by peacekeepers represented by Russian, Moldovan and local military. Despite constant negotiations under the auspices of the OSCE, the tension of the conflict has not been reduced. The last surge was in the spring of 2014, when the local population turned to the President of Russia with a request to resolve the issue of joining the PMR to the Russian Federation. This event took place after the Crimean spring. Inspired people considered that they would also have a chance to unite with their historical homeland. Back in 2006, ninety-seven percent of citizens voted not only for independence from Moldova, but also for further entry into the Russian Federation. At the same time, seventy-eight percent of the electorate voted. But the "civilized community" recognized this referendum as undemocratic.

President of the PMR

The Republic has its own Constitution, which determines the order and form of its existence. According to the basic law, the President of the PMR is elected by direct voting. Elections are held every five years. There are certain restrictions that apply to candidates. Only a citizen of the republic who has reached thirty-five years of age, more than ten of whom live in this country, can apply for this position. Now the president of the PMR is Evgeny Vasilievich Shevchuk. He has a predecessor who has served in this position for twenty years. This is the share of which fell a lot of difficulties until life in the country improved. Latest presidential elections passed in 2011.

Economy

Despite the fact that large industrial enterprises are located in the republic, they do not give much income. Among the problems mentioned in the first place is the status of the state. It is not recognized, which hinders the establishment of economic ties and participation in major projects. The products of the enterprises are sold on the territory of Ukraine and Russia. The latter provides the PMR with ongoing support. Thus, many sources point to the continuously growing debt of the unrecognized state for gas (400 percent of GDP). The currency of the PMR is the Transnistrian ruble. It has been produced since 2005. In circulation are denominations of 1, 5, 10, 25, 50, 100, 200 and 500 rubles. There are also the Moldavian Republic, namely: 5, 10, 25 and 50 kopecks. The banking system, as in other countries, is two-tiered. The first is a national institution, the second is a commercial one. The currency of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic is quoted only on its territory. This is all connected with the same unrecognized status of the state.

Tourism potential

The republic is trying to attract investors. A special program has been developed for this. This policy is facilitated by the convenient location and developed transport structure of the state. In addition, there are a number of settlements with a rich history. The main one is Kamenka, where many architectural monuments are located. Among them: churches, wine terraces and cellars. Residents are happy to show tourists the estate of Field Marshal P. H. Wittgenstein, part of which has been preserved in the city. In the PMR (photo) there is a reserve - "Yagorlyk". At present, opportunities are being considered for the development of green tourism in the republic, for which there is sufficient potential. Visitors are advised to definitely see the Church of the Reverend Paraskeva of Serbia, which is located in the village of Valya-Adynke, the museum complex "Bendery Fortress". Residents are rightfully proud of the Kolkotovaya Balka paleontological complex, which is a natural monument of world significance.

Social sphere

The Government of the PMR pays close attention to education and health issues. Nine years of study is compulsory. In total, one hundred and eighty-four schools operate on the territory of the republic (six are private). At the same time, in thirty-three schools, teaching is conducted in the Moldovan language, in three - in Ukrainian, in the rest - in Russian. There are three state universities in the PMR, in addition, there are branches of Russian and Ukrainian higher educational institutions. For example, eleven thousand students study at the university (the main university). Young people can get higher education and in Russia, where their certificate is recognized. Healthcare operates on the basis of public funding. According to statistics, there are one hundred and twenty health workers and hundreds of beds for every ten thousand of the population. There are service centers for certain categories of citizens, including women in labor and women with children, disabled veterans of the Great Patriotic War.

Trade

The state exports its own products and raw materials. The latter includes cement, gravel, sand. Ferrous metallurgy products, mechanical engineering, electricity and textiles are also exported. Most goods are consumed by the Russian Federation and Ukraine. But there are also partners from far abroad. These are Syria and Turkey, Serbia and Romania, about a hundred countries in total. The PMR imports natural gas, raw materials for metallurgy, oil processing products. The republic does not produce enough components for mechanical engineering, they also have to be imported.

In addition, some food products are imported from abroad (mainly meat products). The main suppliers include enterprises of the Russian Federation and Kazakhstan, Moldova and Germany, Ukraine and Italy. The government is concerned that imports greatly exceed exports from the country. This is especially true for food products. A program is being developed to develop its own capacities, natural conditions are favorable for this.

military doctrine

The PMR has its own, created exclusively to protect its territory from external aggression. The military doctrine of the republic is presented as purely defensive. Unfortunately, the army is going to repel the aggression of the closest neighbor - Moldova. The troops include ground, border, internal and air forces. In addition, volunteer Cossack formations have been created. The president of the PMR is in command of the armed forces. The Republic declared itself a neutral state. It is not included in any blocks and does not plan to be included. The army is completed on the basis of universal military duty, and the Cossack formations - on a voluntary basis. In order to de-escalate tension in the region, the PMR has repeatedly turned to Moldova with a proposal to demarcate the borders and start disarmament. Understanding in this issue has not been achieved. On the territory of the republic there is the Operational Group of Forces of the Russian Federation. Its main goal is to protect the old arsenals that still belong to the Soviet Army.

"Russian Spring" in historical New Russia covers not only the territories that are still part of the territorial entity "Ukraine". The first liberated territory of New Russia was the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR), which was born back in 1990! All these years, the unrecognized TMR lived only in the hope of reunification with Greater Russia. And now the situation is changing radically due to the crisis in Ukraine, as well as the difficult situation in Moldova and Romania. Russian President Vladimir Putin, during a “straight line” on April 17, in response to a question about the fate of the PMR, directly said that “people should be allowed to decide their own fate. This is what we, together with all partners, will work on, of course, relying primarily on those people who live in Pridnestrovie.” These words immediately caused hysteria in the Kyiv junta, which immediately began to build fortified lines along the border between the PMR and Ukraine. However, all the years of its existence, the PMR lived under the conditions of blockade, so all these measures of the Kyiv temporary workers can only serve as an illustration of its inadequacy. At the same time, once again, the Romanian authorities, led by the ambitious President Traian Besescu, launched a campaign to annex the Republic of Moldova (Moldova) to Romania, which, in the context of the unsettled relations between Moldova and Transnistria, again aggravates the conflict on the Dniester.

So what is Pridnestrovie, who inhabits it and what are its inhabitants fighting for?

Transnistria means a narrow strip of the left bank of the Dniester with a center in Tiraspol with a total area of 4,163 thousand square meters. km (11% of the territory of the former Moldavian SSR). More than half a million people live here, mostly descendants of Suvorov soldiers, Zaporozhye Cossacks and Moldovan "volunteers" (the so-called Moldovans who fought in the ranks of the Russian army during the Russian-Turkish wars of the 18th - 19th centuries). In 1995, according to the State Statistics Committee of the republic, 696 thousand people lived in Transnistria, of which 233.5 thousand (33.5%) were Moldovans, 200.8 thousand Russians (28.8%). The rest are Ukrainians and some Balkan ethnic groups, mostly Russian-speaking. By the beginning of the 21st century, as a result of the demographic crisis and the departure of Pridnestrovians to the Russian Federation, the population of the PMR decreased to 660 thousand people. In 2012, only 513.4 thousand inhabitants remained in Transnistria. In 2011 alone, the population decreased by 46,000 people. Approximately 200 thousand Pridnestrovians have citizenship of the Russian Federation.

The territory of Transnistria accounted for about a third of the industrial potential and generated more than 90% of the electricity of the Moldavian SSR.

The lands on the left bank of the Dniester have been inhabited since ancient times. Scythians, Sarmatians, Alans lived here (probably the name of the Dniester River comes from the Iranian languages spoken by these peoples). From the beginning of the 6th century, the country was inhabited by the Slavic tribes of the Ulichs and Tivertsy, and then was part of Kievan Rus and the Galicia-Volyn principality. At the end of the 10th century, according to information reported by the Byzantine emperor and historian Konstantin Porphyrogenitus, there were six Russian cities on the Dniester: Belgorod, Tungala (modern Bendery), Krakikaty (Magpie), Salmakaty, Sakakaty, Giankaty (whose location is unknown). The names of these cities are given in Greek pronunciation, so what they were called in the language of the local inhabitants is not entirely clear.

During the period of the Polovtsian invasions at the turn of the 11th-12th centuries, the Slavic population of this region partly died, partly fled to safer places. However, the Russians continued to live here after the Polovtsian invasions. In the second half of the 12th century, a kind of Berlad republic existed here. However, the Batu invasion, and the Tatar raids that followed it, turned this region into a "wild field". Only in the Carpathian Mountains, in Bukovina and Pokuttya, did the Russian population survive. The remnants of the Slavic population submitted to the Tatars. In 1257, Prince Daniel of Galicia, fighting with the Tatars, burned the cities of Bolokhov, Gubin, Kobud, and some others located along the lower reaches of the Dniester. From this it followed that there were still Russian cities under the Horde rule.

In the XIV century, in the neighborhood, between the arc of the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester River, the Moldavian principality was formed. The Romance-speaking descendants of the Dacians, whom the Slavs usually called Vlachs or Vlachs, began to populate these fertile and semi-desert lands.

The common Orthodox faith, the Church Slavonic language, which was the official language of the Moldavian principality, the common way of life contributed to the rapid merging of the Slavs and the Vlachs into a new Moldavian ethnic group. The Slavic cultural influence in Moldavia was enormous. Church Slavonic was the state language. When later books appeared in the Moldavian language, they were printed in Cyrillic. In the Moldavian language, a significant part of the vocabulary is made up of Slavic words. In total, there are about 2,000 East Slavic borrowings in the Moldavian language.

In a number of medieval documents, the Principality of Moldavia was even called Rusovlachia.

The head of Moldova is officially called the Slavic term "voivode", and from the 15th century he bore the title "ruler". Large feudal lords were called boyars, court positions sounded completely Slavic - voivode, bed-maker, bowler, stolnik, klyuchar. The heads of peasant communities bore the titles knez (prince), zhude (reminiscent of the South Slavic "zhupan"), vataman (ataman). Slavic origin characters of the wedding ceremony "headman" and "vornichel". Eight out of ten agricultural terms in the Moldavian language were proved by the famous Moldavian scientist and writer B.P. Khashdeu, Slavic origin.

Some Moldavian and Romanian names of craft specialties and craft tools also reveal Slavic influence: mason - zidar, goldsmith - zlătar, tailor - croitor, turner - strugar(planer), saw - pilă, bracket - scoabă, batog - batoc, axe - topor and etc. In the gospodar charters and Moldavian chronicles of the late XIV - XVII centuries. there are clearly Slavic names of the boyars: Yatsko, Stetsko, Grenko and others

The high proportion of Slavic words in the language of Moldavian mythology is indicative. Slavic origin in the Moldavian language are some names of pagan deities. The Moldavians called mermaids - mermaids, the goddess of love - Lado, Lele, (Lado and Lel among the Slavs), the god of the winter solstice, and later - the rite among the Slavs - Kolyada, and among the Moldavians - Kolinda. In Slavic fairy tales, the "Snake-Gorynych" acts, in Moldavian - "zmeu", fairy tales in Moldavian are called "story" ("story"), or "basm" ("fable").

Many place names in Moldova are Slavic. Of the 60 known settlements in Moldavia of the XIV century, 40 are Slavic. East Slavs, according to the Romanian researcher Margareta Stefanescu, left a total of 548 names with purely Slavic roots and 321 names with a Slavic suffix on the territory of the Moldavian principality - sheep.

Toponymic data testify to how the "Wallachization" of the Slavic lands took place. So, in 1392 and 1431, the village of Sherbovtsy was mentioned in the gospodar charters. But already in 1488 this village was already mentioned under the Eastern Romanesque name Sherbenesti. The village of Averovitsy, mentioned in 1403, is known forty years later as Averesti.

But the lands on the left bank of the Dniester were not part of Moldova, remaining in the possession of the Crimean Khanate. The left bank of the Dniester was ceded to Russia in 1791, and became the Tiraspol district of the Kherson province. The difference between Transnistria and other regions of Novorossia was only a larger percentage of Moldovans in the population. The bulk of the first settlers on the left bank of the Dniester were "volunteers" (or volunteers) - Moldavians who fought in the ranks of the Russian army during the Russian-Turkish war of 1787-91. This circumstance probably contributed to the fact that the thinking of the Transnistrian Moldovans has always been pro-Russian, which especially affected exactly two centuries later, during the Transnistrian conflict.

The first half of the 19th century was the period of the most intensive colonization of the Tiraspol district. Only in 1836-1857. more than 19 thousand residents of different provinces moved here Russian Empire, mainly Ukrainian. Settlers either formed new settlements or settled in existing ones. At the invitation of the Russian government, foreign colonists also arrived here. Within Transnistria, German settlers founded the colonies of Glikstal (Glinnoye, 1805), Bergdorf (Kolosovo) and Neudorf (Karamanovo, 1809), while Bulgarian settlers founded the colony of Parkany (1804).

In 1859, 6 thousand people lived in South Transnistria, in 1905 - already 242 thousand people.

By the beginning of the 20th century, the number of Moldovans of Transnistria in the Tiraspol district reached 64.2 thousand, specific gravity in ethnic composition population was 42.3%. The share of other ethnic groups was: Ukrainians - 21.2%, Russians - 14.2%, Jews - 9.2%, Germans - 4.1%, Bulgarians - 3.3%.

In 1918, Romania, taking advantage of the chaos that reigned in Russia after the revolution, captured the Bessarabian province. The left bank of the Dniester was recaptured by the Bolsheviks. The Dniester River again became the border.

In the same 1924, on the left bank of the Dniester, where part of the population was made up of Moldovans, whose numbers also increased due to emigration from Romanian-occupied Bessarabia, the Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (MASSR) was created as part of Ukraine. The MASSR included the cities of Tiraspol, Dubossary, Rybnitsa, Slobodzeya. Although the lands of the MASSR were never part of the Moldavian Principality, the Soviet authorities considered the autonomy as a kind of "red Bessarabia" (by the way, this was the name of the official party newspaper of the autonomy). Moldavians made up about a third of the 600,000 population in the MASSR.

Despite the famine of 1932, dispossession and other features of Soviet life, the MASSR could boast of many achievements. If before 1917 there were more than 80% of illiterates in the Left-bank Moldavia, then by 1937 in the Moldavian ASSR only 3% of the population remained illiterate and 5.5% were illiterate. The Union of Writers of the MASSR, a drama theater, a choir chapel, etc. were created.

As in other national autonomies Soviet Union, in the MASSR, "indigenization" of personnel was carried out. By the time the MASSR was formed, there were only 11 schools with the Moldavian language of instruction, and by 1939 their number had increased to 135. In contrast to Romanian Bessarabia, illiteracy in the MASSR was eliminated.

On June 28, 1940, after an ultimatum from the USSR, the royal government of Romania agreed with Moscow's demands to return Bessarabia and transfer Northern Bukovina to the USSR. Romanian troops and administration from these areas were to be withdrawn within 4 days. The Bessarabian issue was resolved without a war.

As a result of the operation, an area of 50,762 km² was occupied, (of which 8.1 thousand km² is the territory of Bukovina), 3,776,000 people lived on it. On August 2, 1940, the Moldavian Soviet Republic was created in most of Bessarabia. Bukovina, which became the Chernivtsi region, and southern Bessarabia, where Akkerman region was originally formed, with an area of 12.4 thousand km2, were annexed to the Ukrainian SSR. But the territory of the abolished MASSR on the left bank of the Dniester went to the Moldavian SSR. The area of the republic was 33.7 thousand square meters. km. The motive for joining the MASSR to the new union republic was simple - agrarian Moldova was given a solid industrial region. In addition, until the end of the Soviet era, the management personnel of the Union Republic of Moldova were recruited mainly from the left-bank Moldovans.

In August 1941, the whole of Moldova was occupied. However, the Romanian authorities were immediately convinced that the Moldovans not only of the Left Bank, but also of Bessarabia, who were considered Romanians in Bucharest, were not at all happy about the “liberation”. The occupational order of Romania differed little from that of the German occupiers.

In addition to Bessarabia, Hitler's Romanian allies also received part of the land on the left bank of the Dniester. Here the so-called. "Transnistria" with the center in Odessa.

The occupational Romanian regime in the "liberated" Bessarabia and the "annexed" "Transnistria" was both cruel and primitive. By order of the Romanian authorities, all publications in Russian were closed, and all the old circulations of Russian newspapers and magazines were destroyed. All books in Russian were withdrawn from the libraries, including pre-revolutionary ones and even those published in the period 1918-40. In the city of Chisinau, it was officially forbidden to speak Russian. For violators of this order, a huge fine and three years in prison were provided. Even in the modern Baltics, the persecution of the Russian language has not yet reached such methods!

Moldova was liberated in August 1944. After the war, Moldova developed rapidly as an agro-industrial republic. Moldovan culture developed. The entire Soviet Union knew the names of the singer Sofia Rotaru (Moldovan from Bukovina), film director Emil Loteanu, composer Eugen Doga, singer Maria Biesu, writer Ion Druta, and many other cultural figures.

Of course, it would be wrong and tactless to describe the period of post-war Soviet Moldova as an idyll. The famine of 1946-47 claimed the lives of at least 100 thousand inhabitants of the republic. In 1948, 35,796 people were deported. And yet the post-war era was perhaps the brightest in the history of Moldova.

The high birth rate and the migration of the population from other regions of the USSR led to the fact that demographically, Soviet Moldavia demonstrated high rates of population growth. In 1950, 2,340 thousand people lived in the republic (the same as in 1910), and already in 1959 - 3 million, in 1970 - 3.6 million, in 1979 - 4 million, in 1989 - 4.4 million people In 1989, Moldovans made up 64.5% of the population of the republic, Ukrainians - 13.8%, Russians - 13.0%, Gagauz - 3.5%, Bulgarians - 2.0%, Jews - 1.5%, others - 1 .7%.

In fact, it is rather difficult to determine the exact number of representatives of each ethnic group living in the Moldavian SSR, because the republic ranked 4th in the Soviet Union in terms of the number of ethnically mixed marriages. There were 360 ethnically mixed marriages per 1,000 inhabitants in cities and 113 in rural areas.

"Perestroika" in the USSR, which turned into a small civil war and the collapse of a single country, Moldova was affected more strongly than in most regions of the Soviet Union. Moldavia itself fell apart in the fire of war. On the territory of the former smallest in territory of the republics of the USSR, 3 state-political formations were formed at once (Pridnestrovie, Gagauzia and the remaining Moldova proper), while there was a real threat of joining the reduced territory of Moldova to Romania. These political events led the region to an acute social and economic crisis.

In the second half of the 80s. In the 20th century, in Moldova, as in most of the union republics of the USSR, a “national awakening” began, accompanied by massacres against the “non-indigenous” inhabitants of the republic, especially Russians, and persecution of the Russian language and culture. Mass rallies, the howl of the perestroika press about "Stalinism", street riots, the emergence of "People's Fronts", the imposition of "language" restrictions, the mass dismissal of employees of "non-indigenous" nationality - all this was characteristic of many Soviet republics, especially the Baltics. But in Moldova, these methods ran into resistance from the local Russian population, supported by a large part of the pro-Soviet Moldovans. An indicator of resistance was the birth of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR) in 1990.

After the hot summer of 1989, when "linguistic" conflicts swept over Moldova, in response to the sovereignization of Moldova, the left-bank regions began their sovereignization. On September 2, 1990, the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic was proclaimed, still within the framework of the Moldavian SSR. However, it was clear that the attempt of the Moldovan authorities to secede from the USSR would cause a corresponding reaction from the pro-Soviet population of Transnistria. Nevertheless, the Moldovan authorities went for it, realizing that without the Pridnestrovian economic potential, Moldova is, in the economic sense, a corn field. The idea of joining Moldova to Romania, which was defended by some Moldovan political parties, who came to power in Chisinau, did not arouse any enthusiasm among the Moldovans themselves, who looked warily at the "Ethiopia of Europe", that is, Romania. At the same time, if among the “indigenous” Balts the history of their region between 1918 and 1940 evoked a flood of warm feelings and thoughts about “freedom”, then even the most anti-Soviet Moldovans had a rather negative reaction to the history of Romanian Bessarabia. Because of this, the forces of separatism in Moldova initially did not enjoy the support of the majority of the indigenous population of the republic. "Moldovanists" (that is, supporters of independent development of the republic) have always been incomparably more popular than "unionists" (supporters of joining Romania). On the other hand, the Russians of Moldavia, due to the fact that most of them were descendants of Suvorov soldiers and Zaporozhian Cossacks, were more active than the anemic Russians from the Baltics.

For the Transnistrians, the idea of joining Romania (which brought back memories of the occupation in 1941-44) only increased anti-Kishinev sentiment. It is no coincidence that Pridnestrovians began to call their opponents "Romanians", regardless of their origin. But the word "Moldovan" on the left bank of the Dniester sounded proud and honorable. So they began to call those Moldovans who supported the Transnistrian movement.

Indeed, the Moldovans of the left bank of the Dniester, the descendants of the "volunteers", were distinguished by a special attitude towards the Russian statehood. Many ethnic Moldovans made up the leadership of the Transnistrian Republic. Man No. 2 of the Republic of the period of its formation was Grigory Marakutsa, military units Pridnestrovians were commanded by Stepan Kitsak, his son Captain Andrei Kitsak commanded the Pridnestrovian formations defending Dubossary, and was wounded during the fighting.

Attempts by official Chisinau to pacify the rebellious region by force caused armed clashes. Already in November 1990, an armed clash took place in Dubossary, in which the Pridnestrovian side lost three people dead. All of them were Moldavians, which only intensified the split of the Moldavian Republic. Finally, after the proclamation of the collapse of the USSR, in the spring of 1992, a large-scale war began. Volunteers (mostly Cossacks) from all over the former USSR began to arrive to help the Pridnestrovians. Romanians and militants from the Baltic States fought on the side of the Chisinau authorities. On June 19-21, bloody battles took place in Bendery. The outcome of the war was decided by the transfer to the side of Transnistria of the 14th army of the Soviet armed forces stationed here. During the hostilities in Pridnestrovie, about 500 people were killed by Pridnestrovians and Cossacks (the Moldovan side has not announced any losses). In the summer of 1992, negotiations began, which have continued sluggishly to this day, without determining the status of Transnistria.

Moldovans from the left bank of the Dniester took a massive part in the armed defense of the Pridnestrovian statehood. They made up 30% of the personnel of the armed formations of the PMR. This was slightly less than the share of Moldovans among the population of Transnistria, but exceeded their share among the townspeople. The Moldovans participated in the defense of Dubossary and Bender from the forces of the official Chisinau.

It should be noted that during the war of 1992 and later, the Pridnestrovian leaders counted on the victory of the national-patriotic forces in Russia itself. In this case, Transnistria would immediately join Russia. But after the victory of Yeltsinism in the fall of 1993, and the prolongation of the Russian crisis, the Transnistrian authorities had to think about the survival of the republic. The PMR was going through a severe economic crisis. In 1993, production in the PMR decreased by 34% compared to the level of 1990. As a result, Transnistria has turned into an economically depressed region, living mainly on the remittances of its citizens working in the Russian Federation. However, many sectors of the Transnistrian industry may still be of global importance. So, in 2001, the US authorities, under a far-fetched pretext, imposed duties on Transnistrian steel in the amount of 232% of the cost. The reason is simple - the American industry is not capable of producing steel of such a high level, and in order to fight a competitor, the Americans took measures, to put it mildly, contrary to "free market relations."

Nevertheless, despite all the economic difficulties, Transnistria remains a reliable outpost of Russia in the region. We hope that the return of Pridnestrovie home to Russia is not only inevitable, but will follow very soon.

http://demoscope.ru/weekly/2012/0497/panorm01.php#1

Sulyak S. G. Fragments of Holy Russia. Chisinau, 2004 p. 121

History of Moldova. T.1 / Ed. HELL. Udaltsova, L.V. Tcherepnin. Kishinev, 1951. S. 86.

Moldovans. M. Nauka, 2010, p. 42

History of Bessarabia. From the origins to 1998 / I. Skurtu. - Chisinau: 2001. - S. 225

Transnistria, full official name Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic(PMR) is located in the southeast of Europe. Geographically, the republic is represented by the left bank of the Dniester River and the city of Bender and part of the Slobodzeya region, located on the right bank of the river. It borders in the west with Moldova, in the east with Ukraine (Odessa and Vinnitsa regions). The total length of the border is 816 km, including 411 km with Moldova and 405 km with Ukraine.

Territory of the PMR– 4163 sq. km. The length from northwest to southeast is 202 km, from west to east - 40 km.

H population depopulation Republic on 07/01/2011 amounted to 516 thousand people. At the same time, in urban settlements 356 thousand people live, and 160 thousand people live in rural areas.

National composition

Most of the population of Transnistria, according to the 2004 census, are Russians (31%), Moldovans (32%) and Ukrainians (29%). In general, residents of 35 nationalities live on the territory of Transnistria: Bulgarians, Belarusians, Gagauz, Jews, Germans and others.

official languages- Russian, Moldovan, Ukrainian.

Currency unit— Transnistrian ruble

Religion
The main part of the population professes Orthodoxy, there are religious communities of Old Believers, Catholics, and Jews.

Administrative-territorial structure

The Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic is a unitary state. The territory of Transnistria is divided into 7 administrative units: 5 districts - Grigoriopol, Dubossary, Kamensky, Rybnitsa and Slobodzeya, as well as 2 cities of republican subordination - Bendery and Tiraspol.

Capital the city of Tiraspol. It is located 100 km from Odessa and 70 km from Chisinau.

In total, there are 8 cities in Transnistria (Bendery, Grigoriopol, Dnestrovsk, Dubossary, Kamenka, Rybnitsa, Slobodzeya, Tiraspol), 8 urban-type settlements (Glinoe, Karmanovo, Kolosovo, Krasnoye, Mayak, Novotiraspolsky, Pervomaisk, Solnechny), 143 villages.

Education PMR

The Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic is an independent sovereign state formed on the basis of the free will of the people during referendums and citizens' gatherings. It was proclaimed on September 2, 1990 at the Second Congress of People's Deputies of all levels. This day is a public holiday - Republic Day.

The form of government is a presidential republic

The Republic has all the attributes of sovereign statehood: a President elected by direct secret ballot for a term of 5 years, a representative body (Supreme Council), its own judicial, law enforcement and defense systems, state symbols- flag, coat of arms, anthem.

Transnistrian independence referendum

On September 17, 2006, a referendum was held on the territory of the PMR, which raised two questions: “Do you think it is possible to maintain the course for international recognition of Pridnestrovie and joining Russia?” and “Do you think it is possible for Transnistria to become part of Moldova?”. Moldova, the OSCE, the European Union and a number of other international organizations declared the referendum illegal and undemocratic in advance. Independence of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR) and its subsequent free accession to the Russian Federation (RF) were supported by 97% of the citizens of Pridnestrovie who took part in the referendum. 2.3% of voters voted against integration with the Russian Federation. 3.4% of the citizens of Pridnestrovie spoke out in favor of abandoning the course towards the independence of the PMR and the subsequent entry of the republic into Moldova, and 94.6% of the participants in the referendum were against such integration. 2% of voters could not decide on a choice. According to the official data of the Central Election Commission of Transnistria, 78.6% of citizens who had the right to vote, or about 306 thousand out of 389 thousand people, took part in the referendum on September 17, 2006.

Economy

A significant part of the industry of the former MSSR is concentrated on the territory of Transnistria. In 1990, before the collapse of the USSR, Transnistria provided 40% of Moldova's GDP and produced 90% of electricity.

The PMR is an industrial-agrarian state. The leading place in the economy is occupied by ferrous metallurgy, light industry, mechanical engineering, furniture and woodworking industries. A wide range of products of the enterprises of the republic is characterized by high quality and is well known in many countries of Europe, America, the Middle and Far East, and the CIS countries.

The main problems of the region's economy today are unrecognized status, mass migration, an aging population, a negative balance of foreign trade, and high inflation.