VIDEO | "If we don't go to the protest, they'll fire us." Employees from the Transnistrian region, threatened with losing their jobs if they don't participate in the demonstration against Chisinau. "They're driving us like donkeys"

People from the Transnistrian region are forced to participate in the demonstration organized on Friday, October 23, in Tiraspol, against the alleged “economic blockade” imposed by Chisinau. A dialogue between a woman who works in a kindergarten in the region and her child, who is abroad, reveals serious accusations: employees are allegedly threatened with dismissal if they refuse to participate, activities in educational institutions have been canceled, and people are being transported in organized buses, without being clearly explained the purpose of the demonstration. The testimony comes in the context in which the independent press reports on the forced mobilization of employees from public institutions and enterprises in the region, while the separatist administration accuses the constitutional authorities in Chisinau of stifling the economy on the left bank of the Nistru River. However, the Reintegration Policy Office believes that the organizers are exploiting the real difficulties of the population for political purposes.

The woman's testimony shows a different reality than the image of a voluntary mobilization promoted by the organizers of the demonstration. She claims that neither she, nor her colleagues, nor the kindergarten management want to participate, but that the order received cannot be contested.

Cotidianul.md sources obtained the conversation between the two people.

– Tomorrow they are forcing us all to go to a protest against Chisinau. They said that if we don't go, they will fire us.

– Seriously?

– Yes. And I wonder… why?

– Mom, don't go.

– They are forcibly directing them from all regions to Tiraspol. Against the economic blockade, supposedly, from Chisinau. What an aberration. I don't want it and neither do my colleagues. Not even the kindergarten director wants it. But he said it was an order and there's no discussion. Dozens of organized buses are coming. They've canceled all classes and activities in schools and kindergartens. It's absurd. And they're driving us, like donkeys, wherever they want. What can I say, it's not pleasant. And they didn't even explain to us what kind of protest it is, why... they said it's none of our business. We'll come and see on the spot.

The report is not an isolated case in the information that has emerged about the preparation of the demonstration. The publication Nokta, citing independent sources in the region, reported that employees of some enterprises and institutions were forced to show up for the protest, including drawing up lists of names. At the same time, activities in some higher education and vocational institutions were suspended. Individual threats of dismissal could not be independently verified.

"People's Assembly", organized by the structures in Tiraspol

The October 23 demonstration was called by the so-called Transnistrian Popular Forum, an organization led by separatist leader Vadim Krasnoselski. Participants were called to the center of Tiraspol to protest against Chisinau's economic policies, including the gradual introduction of VAT, excise duties, and customs duties for companies in the region.

Organizers claim that the measures are affecting businesses, reducing the region's budget revenues, and endangering salaries and pensions. The Slobozia administration officially announced that it is providing buses to transport participants to Tiraspol.

Images published by the regional press show buses transporting people from different localities to Tiraspol. At the same time, the Reintegration Policy Bureau in Chisinau questions the voluntary nature of the participation and accuses the organizers of trying to create a false impression of popular support for the separatist administration.

What Chisinau says about the alleged "economic blockade"

The accusations of an economic blockade arise in the context in which the authorities of the Republic of Moldova have begun to gradually eliminate some tax incentives that companies from the Transnistrian region benefited from.

From September 1, 2026, VAT and excise duties began to be applied to certain categories of goods imported into the region. According to the Government, the objective is the gradual approximation of tax regimes on both banks of the Dniester River, so that economic activity can be carried out according to common rules.

At the same time, official data contradict the idea of ​​a total commercial isolation of the region. In the first half of 2026, 76,9% of the exports of Transnistrian economic agents were destined for the European Union market, according to the Reintegration Policy Office. The main sales markets were Romania, Italy and Slovakia.

Access to the European market is achieved through trade mechanisms and documents issued by the institutions of the Republic of Moldova. In 2025 alone, national authorities issued 3.894 certificates of origin for goods of economic agents from the Transnistrian region, of which 2.099 confirmed preferential origin in trade with the European Union.

In parallel, Chisinau has established the Convergence Fund, intended to reduce economic and social differences between the two banks of the Nistru River, and is working on a plan to re-integrate the region. Authorities claim that they are pursuing a gradual rapprochement, through services, development projects and economic integration.

In a reaction published on Friday, October 23, the Reintegration Policy Office qualified the demonstration as an attempt to politically exploit the economic difficulties faced by the population on the left bank of the Nistru River.
The institution claims that the event aims to present the Tiraspol administration as the beneficiary of broad popular support and to promote accusations against the constitutional authorities.

At the same time, the Bureau emphasizes that the economic difficulties of the residents are real, but believes that the solution must be sought through dialogue and concrete projects to bring the two banks closer together, not by amplifying tensions.