Transnistria
In the East of Moldova, bordering the Ukraine, lies a small area called Transnistria. It is a sovereign region that sought to remain a part of the Soviet Union and declared independence on September 2, 1990. Internationally Transnistria is considered part of the Republic of Moldova, although de facto control is exercised by a local separatist administration. Transnistria has it's own currency, constitution, parliament, border controls and passports - but has not yet been recognized by a...
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  • Newly wed couples posing for wedding photographs in front of the war memorial of Transnistria's indepenence war of 1992. Laying down flowers on the tomb of the "unknown soldier" is part of a wedding ritual in Tiraspol.
  • On the main street of Tiraspol, Transnistria's capital city.
  • The new footbalstadium of Sheriff in Tiraspol. Sheriff is the country's most powerful company and closely associated with transnistria's regime. Sheriff runs gaz stations, Supermakets, casino's, a Mercedes dealership, news papers and magazines, the only private owned tv channel, the largest mobile telephone operator, and a football club. It is led by president Smirnov's eldest son.
  • There remain 1200 russian troups of the 14th regiment stationed in Transnistria, inspite of russian promises 10 years ago to pull their troups out of the country. Here, various high ranking military personell is waiting in Bendery for the president to unveil a statue commemorating fallen russian troups untill 1942.
  • Early morning in Tiraspol, capital city of Transnistria.
  • The dancing hall "Friendship" in Tiraspol features a decor popular with an elder low-income crowd longing for past sowiet times. Portraits of Lenin, Stalin, Cheguevara adorn the walls and drinks are the cheapest in town.
  • public bus in Tiraspol, capital city of the self-styled country of Transnistria. Many of the older inhabitants are nostalgic for the old times of the sowjet union. A large part of the population favours indipendence and a unification with russia.
  • Russian orthodox Bishop Iustinian (Ovchinnikov) blessing the congragation on Sunday ouside the Church in Tiraspol. The Russian Orthodox faith has rapidly gained popularity after the fall of the sowjet union; in Transnistria alone the number of churches, chapels and devotional houses has risen from 20 to over 100 in the last 15 years.
  • Russian Orthodox church service in Tiraspol. The Russian Orthodox faith has rapidly gained popularity after the fall of the sowjet union; in Transnistria alone the number of churches, chapels and devotional houses has risen from 20 to over 100 in the last 15 years.
  • Tatiana, a young TV anchor of a local television station and her friends in the bar "red" in Tiraspol. All of them consider themselves russian ; a russian passport is quite easy to obtain and they travel to moscow to study in their native langage. They are not particularly interested in the Transnistria's politics; however, they favour independence and a close relation to russia, as Moldava offers hardly any prospects for their future.
  • At a local discotheque in Tiraspol, girls outnumber boys by far. Due to the fact that most young men go to work in russia there is an acute shortage of available boyfriends in the city's nightclubs.
  • Streetscene on the outskirts of Tiraspol, Transistria's capital city. some livestock is kept by the locals to supplement their often meager incomes .
  • Tamara, 76yrs, lives on a pension of $26 a month and has to supplement her income selling the few nuts she collected in her Garden. Many older inhabitants of Transnistria live in poverty.
  • Valentina, a farmer ouside of Tiraspol, works on her field of 20mx100m with her sons Vitaly and Ruslan. The former large kolchos (common farm) has been divided up and families try to make a living on such small fields,
  • grafity on a bus station on the road to Transnistria
  • Inside the "Supreme Soviet", transnistria's self-styled parliament since 1992. Underneath the country's flag sits Evgeny Vasilyevich Shevchuk, leader of the parliament.
  • The President of Transnistria, Nikolajwitch Smirnow
  • At the open market in the center Tiraspol, Transnistria's capital city.
  • Storage facility at the state-owned brandy factory of Kvint in Tiraspol. Most of the industry of Moldova is situated in Transnistria; Kvint exports mainly to countries in the former sowjet union.
  • Women working in the bottling factory of Kvint, the state-owned brandy factory. The brandy is widly distributed in the former Soviet Union and features on the Transnistrian 5 ruble note.
  • The largest steel factory in the region lies in Rybniza, Transnistria. Transnistria's survival as a self-declared independent state has a lot to do with the fact that it is home to most of Moldova's Industry.
  • Statue of Sugarov, Tiraspol's founding father
  • Border checkpoint to the Ukraine. The border of the self-styled country of Transnistria is littered with buerocratic border checkpoints. Smuggeling is a major income source of the Transnistrian govenement; Ukranian goods declared as transit goods are legally imported to Transnistria and illegaly exported again to the Ukraine. The head of the Transnistrian border control, Alexey Smirnov, is the Transnistrian president Nikolajwitch Smirnov's son.
  • A Lenin statue in front of the parliament building, on Tiraspols main road, the Boulevard of 25th october. Nostalgia for soiwjet times rns high in the self-styled country of Transnistria.
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