Promo-LEX: Moldova owes Russia $17,5 million. The association proposes that part of the amount be used to compensate victims of abuses in the Transnistrian region

Over 1,800 people from the Transnistrian region are awaiting compensation established by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), totaling 7,23 million euros, which the Russian Federation must pay. The Promo-LEX Association proposes that the Republic of Moldova pay compensation instead of the Russian Federation and take over the victims' claims. After taking over the claims, Promo-LEX added, the state can propose to Moscow to settle them by offsetting them with the debt of about 17,5 million dollars that Moldova has towards Russia, the Association announced in a statement.

Promo-LEX claims that it submitted, on November 2, 2026, to the Presidency, the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister for Reintegration and the Reintegration Policy Bureau, a legal opinion on the payment and recovery of the amounts owed by the Russian Federation to the victims in the Transnistrian region. The proposal has two components: the state pays the victims the amounts established by the Court, then recovers them from the Russian Federation.

In this context, Promo-LEX requests the Government to approve a draft law and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE) to send a verbal note of payment to the Russian Federation. "At the meeting of the Committee of Ministers in December 2026, the Republic of Moldova may propose a register of unpaid claims by the Russian Federation and a compensation fund, modeled on the mechanisms created for Ukraine. The proposal to finance the advance payment from the Convergence Fund was also submitted in the public consultation of the draft Government decision on the fund, concluded on November 3, 2026," the institution's press release states.

According to the association, between 2004 and May 2026, the ECtHR ruled on 65 cases involving claimants from the Transnistrian region. In 46 of these, the Court found violations solely on the part of the Russian Federation, which exercises effective control over the region. In total, over 1.800 people are awaiting payment. With interest on late payments, the Russian Federation's debt to these victims amounts to approximately 7,23 million euros, or approximately 145,2 million lei. According to Promo-LEX, the Russian Federation has paid in only three cases concerning the region.

"The cases concern detentions ordered by the so-called Tiraspol courts (23 cases), inhumane treatment and lack of medical care in detention (20 cases), deaths (4 cases), searches and evictions, confiscation of vehicles with Moldovan license plates, loss of land and other property (12 cases), as well as violations of freedom of religion, expression, assembly and movement."

The largest groups of claimants are farmers and school communities. Over 1600 landowners in the villages of Dubăsari district, including Cocieri, Doroțcaia, Pîrîta and Molovata Nouă, have not had access to their land beyond the Rîbnița road since 2004. The court awarded them 1500 euros each in 2018, and 42 other farmers obtained a similar ruling. Over 180 students, parents and teachers of Latin-script schools obtained rulings in 2012, 2018 and 2019, those in the Catan case with 6000 euros each. Other claimants include a journalist convicted of “espionage” and a young asthmatic detained without treatment. In total, over 1800 people are awaiting payment. "With late payment interest, the Russian Federation's debt to these victims amounts to approximately 7,23 million euros, or approximately 145,2 million lei," Promo-LEX also mentions.

Refusal of the Russian Federation

The Russian Federation has paid in only three cases concerning the Transnistrian region. All other amounts, starting with the Grand Chamber judgment in the Catan and Others case of October 19, 2012, have remained unpaid, according to the Association.

"In 2022, the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation responded to Promo-LEX that these decisions "cannot be executed, as they contradict the constitutional foundations of the Russian Federation", and a federal law from June 2022 excluded the execution of decisions that became final after March 15, 2022. The refusal is systematic. According to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, at the end of 2025 the Russian Federation had not paid in 1748 cases, and the outstanding amount exceeded 3 billion euros. The claims of victims from the Transnistrian region represent less than 0,25% of this amount", the Association states.

Promo-LEX proposal

Promo-LEX proposes that the state pay the victims, in advance, the amounts awarded by the Court, including interest, and subrogate themselves to their rights. "From the day of payment, the Republic of Moldova becomes the creditor of the Russian Federation for the amounts paid. Russia's debt is not extinguished: it passes into the patrimony of the state, which can pursue it with the means of a state. The payment does not imply recognition of any responsibility of the Republic of Moldova for the violations found. The opinion includes a draft of a special law, which Promo-LEX requests the Government to approve and submit to Parliament by December 31, 2026," the Association claims.

Cost to the state budget

According to Promo-LEX, the entire debt, with interest, is about 145,2 million lei. Payment can be spread over two budget years, with priority for the oldest cases and elderly beneficiaries.

"For comparison, the state will spend over 500 million lei in 2026 for the region's residents, and over 218 million lei were accumulated in the Convergence Fund in the first semester. The mechanism has a precedent: since 2015, the United States has been paying victims with unenforced judgments against states that sponsor terrorism and take over their claims, and the fund created for this purpose has paid over 7 billion dollars," the statement added.

Recovery of amounts from the Russian Federation

According to Promo-LEX, the Republic of Moldova owes the Government of the Russian Federation about 17,5 million dollars from an older loan, reported by the Ministry of Finance as outstanding due to external factors. After taking over the receivables, the state may propose to Moscow to settle them by offsetting them with this debt, through a protocol between the two governments. Until the protocol is concluded, the Republic of Moldova may suspend payment of the debt, as a countermeasure permitted by international law, within the limit of the receivables taken over from its own citizens.

Vadim Vieru, lawyer and associate expert at the Promo-LEX Association: "Some of these people won at the ECtHR in 2012 and have been waiting ever since. The Russian Federation will not pay willingly, and many of the claimants are already elderly. If the state takes this step, those who had the courage to address the Court will feel that the authorities are on their side. The message also reaches the other states: the commitments assumed in Strasbourg are respected, no matter how big the state that refuses. The solution is legal, and the budget allows it."