KIEV, March 10 (RIA Novosti) - Moldova's self-proclaimed republic of Transdnestr has only itself to blame for its isolation, the Foreign Ministry of neighboring Ukraine said in a press release Friday.
The ministry expressed concern over Transdnestrian authorities' ban on the import of Ukrainian goods through some of the province's border checkpoints following the introduction by Ukraine of new customs rules.
"The stance of the Transdnestrian authorities, who are banning [foreign] cars from entering Transdnestr, is impossible to understand. They are effectively isolating themselves," the ministry said, adding that the ban inflicted heavy losses on importers from Ukraine and other neighboring countries.
Kiev's new customs regulations, requiring all Transdnestrian goods bound for Ukraine to bear an official Moldovan stamp, have caused protests from Tiraspol and Moscow, which both regard the measure as an attempt to impose an economic blockade on the ex-Soviet state's separatist region.
A Russian delegation that visited Transdnestr earlier this week to gauge the new rules' impact on the region's economy warned of the prospect of a large-scale economic crisis. The delegation's leader, Ambassador-at-Large Valery Kenyaikin, said "the customs formalities have been blown into a political problem fraught with adverse consequences" and accused Ukraine and Moldova of taking a "course toward isolating Transdnestr economically."
Kiev brushed off the accusations, saying the new rules were intended to eliminate smuggling and that they would also simplify the procedure of registering Transdnestr-based companies in Moldova's capital, Chisinau, thereby promoting trade with local businessmen.
Transdnestr, whose population is predominantly Russian, broke away from Moldova in 1992 after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Despite mediatory efforts by Russia, Ukraine, the European Union and the United States, the talks over the self-proclaimed republic's formal status have made little progress so far.
