A Large Protest Against the Duties Imposed by Chisinau Takes Place in Tiraspol

This refers to the recent changes made by Chisinau to the Customs Code. The footage shows dozens of citizens marching through the streets of Tiraspol. They are holding banners with the words “Moldova – aggressors” and flags. In addition, regional leader Vadim Krasnoselsky and the first leader of Tiraspol, Igor Smirnov, have been spotted among the protesters. Earlier, on 11 January a similar protest took place near an illegally established checkpoint in the Transnistrian region of Bender-Varnita. The demonstrators said then that changes in the Customs Code would lead to a sudden rise in prices and asked the authorities in Chisinau to abandon the idea. As of 1 January 2024, the new Customs Code of the Republic of Moldova came into force, as a result of which companies from the left bank of the Dniester will have to pay customs duties to the Moldovan budget.  Until now, although companies from the Transnistrian region were registered in Chisinau as economic agents of Moldova, they paid customs duties to the Transnistrian budget. The new Customs Code states that the previous benefits provided by law regarding the customs tariff have been cancelled. To be more precise, the provision referring to “import-export operations carried out by economic agents located on the territory of the Republic of Moldova that have no tax ties with its budgetary system” was cancelled. This change caused discontent of the Tiraspol authorities, who accuse Chisinau of taxing Transnistrian companies and of having introduced this measure suddenly without announcing it in advance.