7 ms·

Letter from Transnistria

73 points by nols 11y ago

commaander 11y ago
amazing country...especially the kvint cognac
rdtsc 11y ago
A Vice article on it: http://www.vice.com/en_uk/read/atlas-hoods-weapons-smuggling-youth-cults-in-the-country-that-doesnt-exist http://www.vice.com/en_uk/read/atlas-hoods-weapons-smuggling... It is basically a Russian foothold closer to Western Europe. The only reason that regime exists is because the Russian army is there. It is a hub of human, weapons and drug trafficking and a nice place to hide if you want deal in shady things like that. Moldovan police can't go there and Russian police doesn't care. Another article: http://www.investigatii.md/eng/index.php?art=221 http://www.investigatii.md/eng/index.php?art=221
- Muromec 11y ago
  There is no Russian police there, only military contingent. They are not officially part of Russia and not even recognized by Russia as state, but have some dotations from them.
  - rdtsc 11y ago
    I meant criminal elements from Russia will find safe harbour there since Russian police won't follow them or won't care to.
- snogglethorpe 11y ago
  Some Romaniams I follow refer to Transnistria as "basically a Russian military base," and are of the opinion that the Russians are so entrenched that's likely never to change.... [Shades of the Crimean peninsula...]
  - Steko 11y ago
    Transnistria-Moldova might look like Crimea-Ukraine today but in the early 90s it looked more like Kosovo-Serbia and the Russians that intervened at the time were probably correct to do so.
    - plextoria 11y ago
      You're wrong, the Russians intervened when the rebel forces where losing ground against constitutional forces of R. of Moldova. And while doing so they invented stories of a "genocide". Basically, if you follow the Donbass events, the propaganda is the same.
      - Steko 11y ago
        Russia has had 20 years to annex Transnistria if they wanted it, not remotely the same as Crimea IMHO. The "constitutional forces of the R. of Moldova" were not a professional army but a mixture of police and hastily armed militia that included ultranationalist elements who were encouraging expulsion/cleansing of non-Moldovans. There were real fears that these "constitutional forces" would do the same sorts of things as the Serbian "constitutional forces" were doing to Yugoslavian separatists.
        mootothemax 11y ago
        >Russia has had 20 years to annex Transnistria if they wanted it, not remotely the same as Crimea IMHO. (I'm only bringing this up because I think it's interesting, not to dispute anything you've written) The Russian move into Ukraine seems to have some medium-to-long term planning behind it. For example, there were reports back in 2008 of Russia handing out passports to residents of Crimea: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/ukraine/2575421/Russia-distributing-passports-in-the-Crimea.html http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/ukraine/257... Also interestingly, the article above specifically mentions the passport tactic being used in the other notorious breakaway republics of Abhkazia and South Ossetia.
- trhway 11y ago
  surfaced on Yahoo today about nuclear materials smuggling attempts through Moldova and Transnistria http://news.yahoo.com/ap-investigation-nuclear-smugglers-sought-terrorist-buyers-010834408.html http://news.yahoo.com/ap-investigation-nuclear-smugglers-sou...
_bpo 11y ago
No idea why this is near the top of hackernews, but I've been there. One time when I was there, there was a huge billboard in front of the old ministry of culture with the (then) presidents of Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Transnistria smiling together. The local gag at the time was that this was the "Commonwealth of Unrecognized States" - meanwhile Putin was meeting the Commonwealth of Independent States in Chisnau. [1] Far be it from me to attempt to summarize a nation in a few sentences, but one would be remiss without following up that article by saying the obvious.... Transnistria is a place run by gangsters. The hammer and sickle are printed on their money to appeal to the old folks who long for the days of Soviet protection, meanwhile everything is for sale - including people. This is a hub for the trafficking of everything. I don't say this out of love for the state it broke away from, Moldova, the poorest country in Europe, the last communist country in Europe, which has all of the same problems at a different scale. p.s. no need for endless paperwork - fifteen euros to the border guards will secure your entry no matter where you come from. [1] http://imgur.com/8wf688Y http://imgur.com/8wf688Y edited to change: I wrote "fifty" euros when I meant "fifteen" - I probably overpaid, but not by that much!!
- Muromec 11y ago
  >edited to change: I wrote "fifty" euros when I meant "fifteen" - I probably overpaid, but not by that much!! You sure overpaid. It costs something like 50 UAH (in 2013 rate) if you pay on exit and you would not even miss your bus.
  - apendleton 11y ago
    Tha UAH is much weaker now than in 2013, but even 100 UAH would be really cheap. That's crazy.
    - Muromec 11y ago
      That would buy a "border guard" few beers. Why would he want more for not causing some person a trouble on their way? The other story if you would have some drugs or make some legit reason to arrest you and demand ransom, but nothing you would not be able to pay anyway.
dejv 11y ago
Transnistria was one of the strangest places I ever visited. It still lives in their old Soviet times and you can find statues of Lenin everywhere. Other than that there is not much to do in this country. To illustrate the state of this country, you can take a look on results of election in 2001: Igor Smirnov won, collecting 103,6% of votes.
- Muromec 11y ago
  It sure is strange, look something out of this space-time, really. I'v been there in 2013 (cycling from Odessa to Chisinau). Lenin, communist symbols, Sheriff symbols, billboards advertising 3G and suddenly every sign written in Russian. Locals are scared to accept hryvnyas as payment - think it's tax office check or something. Ended up paying the price in soviet-looking monopoly money and tipping in hryvnyas. Talks about Russian military are something overestimating. Few bored "peacemakers" on Bandery bridge and locals that serve in Russian military because that's no work anywhere.
  - Uberphallus 11y ago
    Interesting the amount of HN users have been to that little shithole (including me!). I did Chisinau to Odessa and back in marshrutki, in 2014, around the time of Yumorina. One point is that not everything is written in Russian; some is actually Romanian written in Cyrillic characters. I secretly took some pictures of the border control with my DSLR, and when they were puzzled at my passport my then gf had the brilliant idea of taking more, like, in the open. They forced us to delete them. Tried undelete tools later to no avail, unfortunately.
jmnicolas 11y ago
I was there in 2003 and I can confirm that when people realize that you're a foreigner they just stare at you like you come from an over planet ! It was an interesting experience, people are really nice and are remarkable hosts (if you don't mind being stared at ;-).
qdw 11y ago
There's an excellent SF novella, Walter Jon Williams' The Green Leopard Plague, where Transnistrian corruption happens to be a major plot device. The other characters derisively call the Transnistrian government "Trashcanistanis." This story was my first encounter with Transnistria, and it seemed weird enough to be fictional, but later I found out it was real.
xytop 11y ago
Guys, I live there all my life, in Tiraspol, and I don't agree with you. Here's no gangsters, no communism. Of course it is not as developed as Chisinau, but far better place to live than the rest of Moldova and Ukraine. Pensions are much higher than in Moldova, lots of people from Chisinau when they get old buy here appartment and move over. Questions are welcome. Can make proofs if needed
- userulluipeste 11y ago
  "Pensions are much higher than in Moldova, lots of people from Chisinau when they get old buy here appartment and move over." Oh, it sounds so better economically! What do you have to say about the fact that Transnitria did not paid anything for the gas it consumed for over twenty five years now (and was left on Moldova's bill note)? Or for a lot of other things for that mater? Now about the immigration, are you serious? There is so much effort directed at keeping the outsiders out, so much scrutiny over anyone (even on locals), you understand why the claim that someone can just come not only for a few hours but indefinitely is just surreal?
  - xytop 11y ago
    I wont argue regarding gas, don't know much about it, but this situation somehow solved as far as Im aware; it never pops up on official discussions. As about immigration - you can trust me, those are not abstract words as I know about this not from press but from my living. Prices on appartments are high due to lots of people from moldova buy appartments here.. and this is due to low utility fees (water, gas, electricity) comparing to right coast.. Of course most of people in region try to immigrate to Europe and Russia, but still there is a bunch of them immigrating to Transnistria, amount may seem small but for our region it's enough to keep appartment prices high enough
- igor_a 11y ago
  This sounds really cool...Pensions ummm...
igonvalue 11y ago
See also http://www.idlewords.com/2009/06/transnistria.htm http://www.idlewords.com/2009/06/transnistria.htm

73 points by nols 11y ago

amazing country...especially the kvint cognac

rdtsc 11y ago

A Vice article on it: http://www.vice.com/en_uk/read/atlas-hoods-weapons-smuggling-youth-cults-in-the-country-that-doesnt-exist http://www.vice.com/en_uk/read/atlas-hoods-weapons-smuggling... It is basically a Russian foothold closer to Western Europe. The only reason that regime exists is because the Russian army is there. It is a hub of human, weapons and drug trafficking and a nice place to hide if you want deal in shady things like that. Moldovan police can't go there and Russian police doesn't care. Another article: http://www.investigatii.md/eng/index.php?art=221 http://www.investigatii.md/eng/index.php?art=221

Muromec 11y ago
There is no Russian police there, only military contingent. They are not officially part of Russia and not even recognized by Russia as state, but have some dotations from them.
- rdtsc 11y ago
  I meant criminal elements from Russia will find safe harbour there since Russian police won't follow them or won't care to.
snogglethorpe 11y ago
Some Romaniams I follow refer to Transnistria as "basically a Russian military base," and are of the opinion that the Russians are so entrenched that's likely never to change.... [Shades of the Crimean peninsula...]
- Steko 11y ago
  Transnistria-Moldova might look like Crimea-Ukraine today but in the early 90s it looked more like Kosovo-Serbia and the Russians that intervened at the time were probably correct to do so.
  - plextoria 11y ago
    You're wrong, the Russians intervened when the rebel forces where losing ground against constitutional forces of R. of Moldova. And while doing so they invented stories of a "genocide". Basically, if you follow the Donbass events, the propaganda is the same.
    - Steko 11y ago
      Russia has had 20 years to annex Transnistria if they wanted it, not remotely the same as Crimea IMHO. The "constitutional forces of the R. of Moldova" were not a professional army but a mixture of police and hastily armed militia that included ultranationalist elements who were encouraging expulsion/cleansing of non-Moldovans. There were real fears that these "constitutional forces" would do the same sorts of things as the Serbian "constitutional forces" were doing to Yugoslavian separatists.
      - mootothemax 11y ago
        >Russia has had 20 years to annex Transnistria if they wanted it, not remotely the same as Crimea IMHO. (I'm only bringing this up because I think it's interesting, not to dispute anything you've written) The Russian move into Ukraine seems to have some medium-to-long term planning behind it. For example, there were reports back in 2008 of Russia handing out passports to residents of Crimea: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/ukraine/2575421/Russia-distributing-passports-in-the-Crimea.html http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/ukraine/257... Also interestingly, the article above specifically mentions the passport tactic being used in the other notorious breakaway republics of Abhkazia and South Ossetia.
trhway 11y ago
surfaced on Yahoo today about nuclear materials smuggling attempts through Moldova and Transnistria http://news.yahoo.com/ap-investigation-nuclear-smugglers-sought-terrorist-buyers-010834408.html http://news.yahoo.com/ap-investigation-nuclear-smugglers-sou...

_bpo 11y ago

No idea why this is near the top of hackernews, but I've been there. One time when I was there, there was a huge billboard in front of the old ministry of culture with the (then) presidents of Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Transnistria smiling together. The local gag at the time was that this was the "Commonwealth of Unrecognized States" - meanwhile Putin was meeting the Commonwealth of Independent States in Chisnau. [1] Far be it from me to attempt to summarize a nation in a few sentences, but one would be remiss without following up that article by saying the obvious.... Transnistria is a place run by gangsters. The hammer and sickle are printed on their money to appeal to the old folks who long for the days of Soviet protection, meanwhile everything is for sale - including people. This is a hub for the trafficking of everything. I don't say this out of love for the state it broke away from, Moldova, the poorest country in Europe, the last communist country in Europe, which has all of the same problems at a different scale. p.s. no need for endless paperwork - fifteen euros to the border guards will secure your entry no matter where you come from. [1] http://imgur.com/8wf688Y http://imgur.com/8wf688Y edited to change: I wrote "fifty" euros when I meant "fifteen" - I probably overpaid, but not by that much!!

Muromec 11y ago
>edited to change: I wrote "fifty" euros when I meant "fifteen" - I probably overpaid, but not by that much!! You sure overpaid. It costs something like 50 UAH (in 2013 rate) if you pay on exit and you would not even miss your bus.
- apendleton 11y ago
  Tha UAH is much weaker now than in 2013, but even 100 UAH would be really cheap. That's crazy.
  - Muromec 11y ago
    That would buy a "border guard" few beers. Why would he want more for not causing some person a trouble on their way? The other story if you would have some drugs or make some legit reason to arrest you and demand ransom, but nothing you would not be able to pay anyway.

dejv 11y ago

Transnistria was one of the strangest places I ever visited. It still lives in their old Soviet times and you can find statues of Lenin everywhere. Other than that there is not much to do in this country. To illustrate the state of this country, you can take a look on results of election in 2001: Igor Smirnov won, collecting 103,6% of votes.

Muromec 11y ago
It sure is strange, look something out of this space-time, really. I'v been there in 2013 (cycling from Odessa to Chisinau). Lenin, communist symbols, Sheriff symbols, billboards advertising 3G and suddenly every sign written in Russian. Locals are scared to accept hryvnyas as payment - think it's tax office check or something. Ended up paying the price in soviet-looking monopoly money and tipping in hryvnyas. Talks about Russian military are something overestimating. Few bored "peacemakers" on Bandery bridge and locals that serve in Russian military because that's no work anywhere.
- Uberphallus 11y ago
  Interesting the amount of HN users have been to that little shithole (including me!). I did Chisinau to Odessa and back in marshrutki, in 2014, around the time of Yumorina. One point is that not everything is written in Russian; some is actually Romanian written in Cyrillic characters. I secretly took some pictures of the border control with my DSLR, and when they were puzzled at my passport my then gf had the brilliant idea of taking more, like, in the open. They forced us to delete them. Tried undelete tools later to no avail, unfortunately.

jmnicolas 11y ago

I was there in 2003 and I can confirm that when people realize that you're a foreigner they just stare at you like you come from an over planet ! It was an interesting experience, people are really nice and are remarkable hosts (if you don't mind being stared at ;-).

qdw 11y ago

There's an excellent SF novella, Walter Jon Williams' The Green Leopard Plague, where Transnistrian corruption happens to be a major plot device. The other characters derisively call the Transnistrian government "Trashcanistanis." This story was my first encounter with Transnistria, and it seemed weird enough to be fictional, but later I found out it was real.

xytop 11y ago

Guys, I live there all my life, in Tiraspol, and I don't agree with you. Here's no gangsters, no communism. Of course it is not as developed as Chisinau, but far better place to live than the rest of Moldova and Ukraine. Pensions are much higher than in Moldova, lots of people from Chisinau when they get old buy here appartment and move over. Questions are welcome. Can make proofs if needed

userulluipeste 11y ago
"Pensions are much higher than in Moldova, lots of people from Chisinau when they get old buy here appartment and move over." Oh, it sounds so better economically! What do you have to say about the fact that Transnitria did not paid anything for the gas it consumed for over twenty five years now (and was left on Moldova's bill note)? Or for a lot of other things for that mater? Now about the immigration, are you serious? There is so much effort directed at keeping the outsiders out, so much scrutiny over anyone (even on locals), you understand why the claim that someone can just come not only for a few hours but indefinitely is just surreal?
- xytop 11y ago
  I wont argue regarding gas, don't know much about it, but this situation somehow solved as far as Im aware; it never pops up on official discussions. As about immigration - you can trust me, those are not abstract words as I know about this not from press but from my living. Prices on appartments are high due to lots of people from moldova buy appartments here.. and this is due to low utility fees (water, gas, electricity) comparing to right coast.. Of course most of people in region try to immigrate to Europe and Russia, but still there is a bunch of them immigrating to Transnistria, amount may seem small but for our region it's enough to keep appartment prices high enough
igor_a 11y ago
This sounds really cool...Pensions ummm...

igonvalue 11y ago

See also http://www.idlewords.com/2009/06/transnistria.htm http://www.idlewords.com/2009/06/transnistria.htm