Due to the blockade of the supply of scrap metal, the flagship of the Pridnestrovian industry, the Moldavian Metallurgical Plant (MMZ), was completely stopped, director of the enterprise Sergey Kornev said. The Moldovan authorities have not let cargo with scrap into Pridnestrovie since February 23.
As an argument for stopping the supply of raw materials to metallurgists, Chisinau stated that the plant does not have authorization in environmental issues for emissions and waste processing based on the legislation of the Republic of Moldova.
“Long downtime can result in frame loss. And this means that the plant will be launched only after the solution of personnel issues. The same thing happened to many factories in Romania - the specialists dispersed all over the world ... We may lose the enterprise, which is generally very important for the economy of the region. Last year, we paid more than $120 million for the transportation of raw materials to the plant, as well as for raw materials and goods from the right bank,” said Kornev.
According to the general director of MMZ, more than 100 thousand people suffer from the shutdown of the “main metallurgical heart of the region”. The logistics industry is also suffering. Road carriers made up to 1.5 thousand trips per month, plus the Moldovan railway.
“Taking advantage of the difficult geopolitical situation, Moldova is squeezing a blockade around Pridnestrovie, not only economic, but also humanitarian,” said the head of Pridnestrovie, Vadim Krasnoselsky, during a meeting of the Security Council. He stressed that the goal of the negotiation process is to make people's lives better, easier and more comfortable. But the agreements are not being implemented by Moldova, and the problems are becoming more and more.
As a result of the blockade of the region, the Transnistrian authorities began to put up large industrial facilities for auction, hoping to find investors and maintain production. The list of companies for sale includes the Tiraspol garment factory Odema, 43% of the shares of the industrial giant Elektromash, 25% of the shares of the clothing company Vestra, 100% of Bendersky Khleb JSC, 100% of Rybnitsa Bakery JSC. The Moldavskaya GRES is on the verge of stopping, which cannot receive the flame scanner that was detained at the border.
