Presidential elections in Transnistria: Fight under blockade

Alexander Khristoforov, journalist

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The Transnistrian Republic is entering the presidential campaign under blockade by the pro-Western regimes of Moldova and Ukraine. Voting day is set for December 11.

Until recently, the election race in the PMR seemed to be a very understandable event: the two main contenders - the current President Yevgeny Shevchuk and the Chairman of the Supreme Council of the PMR Vadim Krasnoselsky staged a classic election competition. Television stories, bursts of “chernukha”, on Shevchuk’s side there are administrative resources, on Krasnoselsky’s side there is a “progressive public” thirsty for change, a “team of professionals.” In a word, everything is as always.

There was no intrigue about who the Holding would support - so, without even mentioning the name, in the PMR they talk about Sheriff LLC, which provides half of the entire budget of the Transnistrian Republic, and on whose position the identity of the winner traditionally depends.

The holding sponsored both the passage of Obnovlenye deputies into the PMR Supreme Council, who side with Krasnoselsky, and sponsors his current presidential campaign. Moreover, he doesn’t just sponsor, but leads, one might say, “outsourced” - only Sheriff specialists see the full picture, and Krasnoselsky moves according to the schedule of meetings and broadcasts proposed to him.

For some time, however, it was not clear who exactly would “go” from the Holding - Igor Buga, a deputy of the Supreme Council, an internationalist warrior who recruited Afghan veterans, youth organizations, and police officers, also had his own ambitions. Buga hoped to show the leadership of “Sheriff” a worthy sociology, but his efforts were not crowned with great success, and Vadim Krasnoselsky, concurrently the head of the Security Service of the Holding, became the only candidate.

They say that Supreme Court deputy Andrei Safonov also had presidential ambitions, but he does not have any resources to conduct the election race.

Shevchuk, of course, uses administrative resources for his own purposes - for example, in the remote PMR region of Kamenka and Rybnitsa, Tatyana Turanskaya, a deputy of the Supreme Council, a native of the Rybnitsa tax office, is already actively involved in his campaign. As a deputy for the northern constituency, she has undoubted influence there; On the Krasnoselsky side, she is opposed by ex-deputy of the Rybnitsa City Council Yuri Petrik. Well, in Tiraspol and the surrounding area, Shevchuk has everything “at hand”, everything is under control.

While a grassroots approach to campaigning appears preferable in the north of the republic, closer to Tiraspol, a focus on the media is proving more effective. Here, people are more closely following scandals: for example, a recording of a meeting of bankers and currency traders was recently leaked online, in which Alexander Lyanka, deputy chairman of the board of the Pridnestrovian Republican Bank, pressures everyone to develop a unified position on the dollar exchange rate in the PMR.

In the PMR they say that the PRB actually belongs to Shevchuk - by playing on courses, he allegedly makes money on the difference, and publicly blames “Sheriff” for the troubles with the currency “cash”. They also say that the trade blockade of the PMR from Ukraine may be ordered by Shevchuk in order to weaken the Holding, which receives impressive profits from the Sheriff supermarket chain (at the same time, the Tiraspol Furshet, owned by Igor Balenko, a deputy of the Kyiv City Council from the Poroshenko Bloc, allegedly receives goods from a neighboring state).

But it was not only Shevchuk who was “taxed”: for some time now, Gennady Kuzmichev, the former Minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, an obvious rival of also the former policeman Krasnoselsky, began to actively speak in the media.

Traditionally, ties with Russia are highly respected in the PMR. Kuzmichev presented the "Russian Outpost" movement in early August , doing so in Moscow. Particular attention is being paid to establishing contact with the Yalta branch of United Russia—evidently, all this is being done to secure "pretty" photos for display in the PMR. After all, why would a presidential candidate leave his "home turf"? The answer is obvious: Kuzmichev is simply a "technician" tasked with wooing Krasnoselsky, who enjoys far higher approval ratings.

And, I must admit, he succeeds: for example, many employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, grateful to Krasnoselsky for improving their living conditions, are already in confusion, not knowing who should be chosen from the two former police ministers.

The situation for presidential contenders became even more complicated after Grigory Marakutsa , the former chairman of the Supreme Soviet of Transnistria and one of the "founding fathers" of the PMR, as residents of the republic call him, announced his candidacy. At a meeting with journalists, Marakutsa stated that he had met with Shevchuk and Krasnoselsky the previous day and that "due to internal political strife, Transnistria's rating has significantly declined," and that the legislative and executive branches are locked in a struggle, which is detrimental to the republic.

“If the situation does not change, the parties do not calm down, do not use the media to restore order, to calm people down, and do not work for creation and unity, then I will be forced to serve one term in order to consolidate society and eliminate all shortcomings,” - he said.

Marakutsa, being from Kamenka, can easily “extinguish” all Turanskaya’s efforts in this direction, and the question of victory in the center comes down only to media support, since Grigory Stepanovich has the highest recognition and authority among citizens. And he can hardly be considered someone’s “technician”, since he “threatens” both main candidates; it seems that Marakutsa is indeed able to act as a “third force,” as he, in fact, positions himself.

In short, the elections in Transnistria are shaping up to be interesting and competitive. Unlike neighboring “European” Ukraine, where the winner is appointed by the US Embassy, ​​and all potential rivals are crushed in advance by security forces or thugs in balaclavas.