Tiraspol announced on Thursday, June 30, the approval of a “decision” on the extension until August 31 of the deadline for the application of the protocol decision on access of farmers from Dubasari district to agricultural land located after the Tiraspol – Camenca route.

According to the Reintegration Policy Office, Tiraspol’s “decision” follows the dialogue held at the level of political representatives in the Transnistrian settlement negotiations, with the involvement of the OSCE Chairmanship-in-Office, the OSCE Mission to Moldova and relevant international partners.

At the end of 2021, Tiraspol notified about its intention to limit the provisions of the above-mentioned protocol decision until 30 June 2022, which was a serious deviation from commitments made during negotiations, as no deadlines for implementation were agreed in that document.

“We note, unfortunately, that the issue of farmers’ access to agricultural land in their possession, ownership and use remains a topical issue for the coming period as well, given that Chisinau’s request to cancel any unjustified deadlines and restrictions has not been properly addressed,” the Reintegration Policy Office notes.

The Protocol provides for the re-establishment of the so-called 2006 Mechanism on the unrestricted use of arable land in the Dubasari district by owners and farmers from the villages of Doroțcaia, Cocieri, Coșnița, Molovata Nouă, Pohrebea, Pârâta and Vasilievca. The 2006 mechanism was approved by an order of former Tiraspol separatist leader Igor Smirnov. The document stipulated that landowners should obtain, on request, a certificate, valid for one year, on the basis of which they could enter and work the land.

The issue of access to land dates back to March 2014 for farmers in the Dubasari district. Since then, the Transnistrian administration has been forcing farmers and economic agents in these localities to pay rental fees for the land they own and has refused to recognise their property rights. Since then, the government has been obliged to provide some compensation to the owners of agricultural land located along the route between Ribnitsa and Tiraspol.

At the beginning of 2013, the ECtHR notified Moldova and the Russian Federation of 8 applications containing the complaints of 1,651 owners of agricultural land located in the Dubasari district, as well as 3 commercial agricultural companies.