Dodon will receive Moscow's support, despite the conflict with Transnistria
Russia, judging by information from the Moldovan authorities, is ready to support Igor Dodon in the upcoming presidential elections in Moldova at the end of the year with both its authority and money.
Prime Minister Ion Chicu said on Channel Four that Russia is ready to provide Moldova with a loan of $500 million for a period of 10 years at 2%.
“We will take this money in installments, depending on our ability to absorb it. In 2020, we estimate that we need $200 million. We will receive this money exactly when we need it - at the end of March. Until then we don’t need them,” Kiku said.
According to him, next week the agreement will be signed, which will be presented later in parliament, ratified and after that the Republic of Moldova will be able to receive the money. Chicu stressed that the money will be directed exclusively to infrastructure, and everything will be transparent.
President of Moldova Igor Dodon said that before mid-summer, Russian President Vladimir Putin or Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin could come to the republic on an official visit.
Dodon noted that earlier he personally invited Putin to Moldova, Prime Minister Ion Chicu sent a corresponding invitation to Mishustin. Also, according to him, the Moldovan side received confirmation that the head of the Russian Federation Council, Valentina Matvienko, will come to the republic in May.
Moldovan political scientist Sergei Ceban believes that Igor Dodon, “positioning himself as a politician loyal to Moscow, is pursuing a completely opposite line, which is unlikely to correlate with Russian interests in the region.”
This particularly applies to Moldovan policy towards Transnistria. Just this year, Chisinau initiated two crises at once: a transport crisis on the border with Ukraine and a banking crisis associated with the refusal of Moldovan banks to accept payments in their own national currency from the PMR.
“The controlled cooling of relations between Chisinau and Tiraspol observed in recent months appears to be a demonstrative gesture from Washington towards the Kremlin regarding whose hands hold the real levers of influence on regional processes, including the Transnistrian settlement,” Cheban wrote on the Regional Trends Analitics website.
He predicts that this year there will be a “decisive battle between Moscow and Washington” for dominance in both Moldova and Transnistria.
Dodon will receive Moscow's support despite the conflict with Transnistria.