It has its own currency, constitution, parliament, flag and anthem. One of the last bastions of Soviet-style rhetoric, the territory has nevertheless privatized some of its industrial enterprises.
Russia supports the region with financial assistance. He has a reputation for corruption, organized crime and smuggling, and has denied charges of illegal arms sales and money laundering.
Open-air museum of the Soviet era
The self-proclaimed Republic of Transnistria is a true open-air museum of the Soviet era, with a Russian-speaking majority. Unlike Moldova it has retained the Cyrillic alphabet. However, it is not recognized as a state by the international community, including Russia, which nevertheless considers it a bridgehead not far from the borders of the European Union. Heavily dependent economically on Moscow, which for example provides it with free gas, its economy is based on heavy industry and multiple trades, but the standard of living remains very low.
The monopoly of the Sheriff group
The Sheriff group, founded in the early 1990s by two former Soviet police officers regularly accused of corruption, enjoys a near economic and political monopoly in this territory. It owns supermarkets, petrol stations and even a football team, FC Sheriff, which, to everyone’s surprise, stood out with its debut in the Champions League in 2021-2022. But also the famous Kvint cognac distillery and a beluga sturgeon farm from which a fine caviar is produced.
The statue of Lenin
In 2015, investigative media Rise Moldova claimed that a third of the territory’s budget ended up in the coffers of this group. Despite its unbridled capitalism, symbols of the Soviet era dominate in Transnistria. A statue of Lenin stands in the center of its main city, Tiraspol, and a bust of the father of the 1917 Bolshevik revolution stands guard in front of the city hall building which has retained its original name: the House of Soviets. Furthermore, the most well-known communist symbols are still imprinted on the flag: the hammer and sickle, as well as the red star.