Under economic emergency, Transnistria relies on trade with EU member countries

A decree approved by leader Vadim Krasnoselsky on 15 January extended the economic emergency in the unrecognised Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR), also called Transnistria, for another month. The extension is a response to the ongoing economic crisis and worsening socio-economic indicators, driven mainly by reduced natural gas supplies.

The state of economic emergency was initially declared on 18 December 2025, after a drop in gas deliveries. According to economic development head Sergei Obolonik, the gas supply issues are linked to declining settlement transactions within the European Union.

However, Transnistrian producers are significantly targeting the European market. In 2025, exports from the region to EU countries accounted for 71% of total exports, according to a press release by the Moldovan Bureau for Reintegration on 13 January. The primary export markets within the EU included Romania, Poland, and Italy.

Over the past year, relevant national authorities issued a total of 3,894 certificates of origin to economic entities from the Transnistrian region, of which 2,099 confirmed the preferential origin of goods for trade with EU member states. These statistics underscore the strengthening of trade relationships with European markets. Furthermore, imports from European Union countries accounted for nearly half of the region’s total imports, at 48%.

After Moldova signed the Association Agreement with the EU in 2014, Transnistria—considered part of Moldova—enjoyed tariff-free exports to the EU. In 2015, 27% of its exports went to the EU, while exports to Russia fell to 7.7%. This trend continued, but in March 2022, the closure of the Ukrainian border forced all trade goods to pass through Moldova, requiring Transnistria to meet Moldovan and EU export standards.

By the first half of 2023, Transnistria reported that 48% of its exports went to Moldova, over 33% to the EU, and 9% to Russia, with 68% of imports coming from Russia. As of 2024, thanks to the free trade agreement between Moldova and the EU, imports and exports to and from Transnistria are treated the same as those to and from Moldova.

PMR is a landlocked breakaway state recognized internationally as part of Moldova, emerging during the 1992 military conflict between pro-Kremlin separatist forces and the newly independent Moldova.