Historical Sketch

When Romania annexed Bessarabia in 1920, the Romanian speaking lands east to the Dniester River were organized into the Moldovan Autonomous Socialist Soviet Republic within Ukraine. After the Soviet re-capturing of Bessarabia in 1940 it was constituted as Moldovan Socialist Soviet Republic including parts of the former Moldovan ASSR, which was then dissolved, east of the Dniester River. Romania re-annexed then entire territory in 1941 but three years later it finally fell to the USSR. In 1991, Moldova withdrew from the USSR and declared independence. The parts east of the Dniester River immediately seceded to form the Transnistrian Moldovan Republic (also referred to as Pridnestrovia, derived from the Russian / Ukrainian name). This move has not been recognized internationally.

Monetary History Overview

With the dissolution of the USSR, Moldova attained independence in 1991. The country's portion east of the river Dniester seceded immediately and declared independence as Transnistrian Moldovan Republic, which has not been recognized internationally. The Moldovan currencies were not introduced, and the Russian and Soviet money remained current in Transnistria. In mid-1993, Russia demonetized the Soviet banknotes, and other successor states of the USSR did the same or had done it before. The worthless notes began flowing into Transnistria where they were still accepted. In January 1994, Transnistrian authorities ordered the circulating notes to be marked with an adhesive sticker in order to stop the further influx. In July 1994, the 1st Transnistrian Ruble was formally created as national currency and the nationalized Soviet banknotes were withdrawn within four months. Due to the political isolation, the Transnistrian economy collapsed, and the currency turned into hyperinflation. In 2001, a currency reform was carried out, and six zeros were cut. The 2nd Transnistrian Ruble continued to depreciate until the mid-2005. Since then, the Ruble has de facto been pegged to the US Dollar with occasional adjustments of the rate, the last major one amounting to 27% has occurred in June 2017.

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