1. Dialogue platforms in the process of negotiations regarding the Transnistrian settlement:

In the context of identifying a viable solution for the Transnistrian issue, the following dialogue platforms were established in the process of negotiations for the Transnistrian settlement:

a) "5+2" negotiation format (Chișinău and Tiraspol - sides, Russian Federation, Ukraine, OSCE - mediators, EU and USA - observers). The purpose of this format is to hold official meetings, aimed at the elaboration, coordination and fixing agreements in written form to be reported and approved by the political level leadership of the sides with the determination of concrete parameters of the final document on the comprehensive settlement of the Transnistrian problem. At the same time, the possibility of concluding partial, intermediate and provisional agreements is foreseen with the aim of gradually systematizing them in the final document. The negotiation agenda is divided into 3 thematic baskets (social-economic issues, human rights, institutional, political and security issues). In the context of the aggression of Russian Federation against Ukraine, the activity of this format is non-functional.

b) the "1+1" format of negotiations refers to working meetings at the level of leaders (they can take place at the level of the President or the Prime Minister of the Republic of Moldova with the leader from Tiraspol) or, as a rule, between political representatives in the negotiation process for the Transnistrian settlement from Chisinau and Tiraspol, the quality of main negotiator in Chisinau falling to the deputy prime minister for reintegration.

c) the sectoral working groups for the strengthening of confidence measures are formed by profile experts from Chisinau and Tiraspol, under the coordination of political representatives, and are intended to develop proposals and mechanisms for solving some technical and current problems faced by the inhabitants of on both banks of the Dniester, contributing to the creation of favorable conditions for negotiations on the political settlement of the conflict. Each working group from the Chisinau side has a designated leader at the level of a state secretary of the responsible ministry/head or deputy head of the institution subordinate to the Government.

Interaction is currently ensured in the following working groups/subgroups, as follows:

WG for economy (coordinator – Ministry of Economic Development and Digitization), within which a working subgroup on banking issues is functioning (coordinator – National Bank of Moldova);

WG for agriculture and environmental protection (coordinators – on the agricultural component: the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry, on the environmental component: the Ministry of the Environment);

WG for education (coordinator – Ministry of Education and Research);

WG for road transport and road infrastructure development (coordinator – Ministry of Infrastructure and Regional Development), within which the working subgroup for rail transport and communications is functioning (coordinator – Ministry of Infrastructure and Regional Development);

WG for civil status documents and population documentation (coordinator – Public Services Agency);

WG for human rights (coordinator – Ministry of Justice and the  People's Advocate Office);

WG for demilitarization and strengthening security (coordinator - Ministry of Defense) - non-functional;

WG for combating crime and exceptional situations (coordinator – Ministry of Internal Affairs);

WG on customs issues (coordinator - Customs Service);

WG for social problems and humanitarian aid (coordinator - Ministry of Labor and Social Protection);

WG for healthcare (coordinator - Ministry of Health);

Working subgroup in the veterinary and phytosanitary field (coordinator - National Food Safety Agency).

d) The Joint Control Commission (JCC) was established in order to implement the provisions of the Agreement on the principles of peaceful settlement of the armed conflict in the Transnistrian region of the Republic of Moldova, signed by the Republic of Moldova and the Russian Federation on July 21, 1992. JCC is not an institution subordinate to the authorities of the Republic of Moldova. The JCC comprises the delegations of the Republic of Moldova, the Russian Federation and the Transnistrian region, with the participation of representatives of Ukraine and the OSCE Mission to Moldova. The nominal composition of the Moldovan delegation in the JCC is established in Government Decision no. 515/2010, and the Delegation's Activity Regulation was approved by Government Decision no. 744/2011.

2. Sources of information regarding the negotiation process for the Transnistrian settlement:

Pertinent information regarding current topics in the Transnistrian issue and the development of the regulatory process (normative acts, press releases, dialogue platforms, archive of signed acts, etc.) is available on the web page: https://gov.md/ro/advanced-page-type/press-release

The documents signed in the negotiation process can be consulted at https://gov.md/ro/content/arhiva-actelor-semnate-cadrul-procesului-de-reglementare.

3. Terminology with reference to the Transnistrian issue:

Both in the communication between the authorities of the Republic of Moldova or with civil society and the mass media, as well as in the dialogue with the representatives of Tiraspol, the terminology established in the national legislation and agreed in the negotiation process will be used. No references to "bilateral relations", relations between "states", "Transnistrian state" or "Transnistrian statehood" will be allowed. Any use of the names of non-constitutional structures and functions within them will also be excluded.

It is recommended to use the following expressions:

left side of the Nistru River (левобережье Днестра); localities on the left side of Nistru River (населенные пункты левобережья Днестра); the eastern districts of the Republic of Moldova (восточные районы Республики);

the Transnistrian region of the Republic of Moldova (приднестровский регион Республики Молдова) – term provided for in the Agreement on the principles of peaceful settlement of the armed conflict in the Transnistrian region of the Republic of Moldova, signed on July 21, 1992 by the President of the Republic of Moldova and the President of the Russian Federation;

the administrative-territorial units/localities on the left side of the Nistru River and the municipality of Bender («административно-территориальные единицы /населенные пункты на левом берегу Днестра и муниципий Бендер» – term used in the normative acts of the Parliament and the Government in recent years to delimit the territory not controlled by the authorities;

political representative in the process of negotiations for the Transnistrian settlement (представитель по политическим вопросам в приднестровском урегулировании);

Transnistrian structures (приднестровские структуры)/structures from the Transnistrian region/structures on the left side of the Nistru River - the formula "ministries/departments/authorities of Transnistria" is not accepted, it will be considered that these structures are established on the territory of the country outside the constitutional field of the Republic Moldova, and what they issue do not represent normative acts;

representatives of the force structures (представители силовых структур Приднестровья) – the formula "law enforcement institutions" is not allowed with reference to the illegally established structures in the localities on the left side of the Dniester;

administrative line (административная линия) – it cannot be named "border";

decisions made at the level of the Transnistrian leader (решения, принятые на уровне приднестровского лидера) - the formulas "Transnistrian president" "decree of the Transnistrian president" are not allowed;

The terms "Moldovan side" and "Transnistrian side" can be used only with reference to the negotiation process and only in the documents drawn up in the negotiation process (protocol decisions (протокольные решения), minutes of meetings of sectoral working groups (протоколы заседаний экспертных (рабочих) групп) etc.), in accordance with the Principles and Procedures of Negotiations within the "Permanent Conference on Political Issues in the Negotiation Process for the Transnistrian Settlement" of April 18, 2012. In this case, the phrases "Moldovan side" and "Transnistrian side" mean the sides at the negotiating table are agreed at the level of the participants of the "5+2" format and cannot constitute a basis for the implicit definition of the legal status. In communication, the same terms ("Moldovan side" and "Transnistrian side") can be replaced by the words "Chișinău" and "Tiraspol".

The term Transnistria (Приднестровье) is provided for in Law no. 691/1991 on the Declaration of Independence of the Republic of Moldova and in Law no. 173/2005 on the basic provisions of the special legal status of localities on the left side of the Dniester (Transnistria) and is used exclusively in the documents of the negotiation process. In all other cases, it is appropriate to use the expression ”the Transnistrian region of the Republic of Moldova.”

Formulas such as "Republic of Moldova and Transnistria" or "Republic of Moldova and Tiraspol" are not allowed, as they could induce the illusion of legal parity/equality of the Republic of Moldova and a part of its territory.

Protocol decisions (протокольные решения) signed in the negotiation process do not have a normative character; they reflect the provisional mechanisms, agreed in the Transnistrian regulatory process, the elements of which are implemented after the approval of the normative framework in accordance with Law no. 100/2017 on normative acts.

The Security Zone (Зона Безопасности) was created on the basis of the Agreement signed on July 21, 1992, to delimit the territory on both banks of the Nistru River, from which to withdraw the armed forces, combat equipment and military equipment. The geographic coordinates of the Security Zone were fixed on July 29, 1992 at the level of the Joint Control Commission, within these coordinates there are 141 localities located both on the territory controlled by the authorities of the Republic of Moldova and on the territory outside the control of the constitutional authorities.

4. The interaction and communication between the two banks of the Nistru:

In accordance with Government Decision no. 605/2013 regarding the duties of the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Ministers, the Deputy Prime Minister responsible for implementing the policies for the reintegration of the country executes the functions of representative for political issues in the process of settling the Transnistrian conflict from the Republic Moldova and represents the constitutional authorities in the negotiations and consultations for the reintegration of the country.

During the negotiation process, a provisional dialogue mechanism was agreed (until the final settlement of the Transnistrian file), which established the possibility of maintaining correspondence between the two banks of the Nistru River exclusively through the dialogue channel of the negotiators-in-chief, on letters of a neutral model, without symbols and references to official positions, with the signing of messages on behalf of political representatives. This rule is also described in point 18 of the Regulation on the organization and operation of the Bureau for Reintegration Policies within the State Chancellery approved by the Secretary General of the Government (no. 16-19 -14 of February 17, 2023).

This communication formula was established in order to avoid direct dialogue with the structures on the left of the Nistru River and possible erroneous interpretations on the part of Tiraspol, and is to be respected until full effective control over the localities in the Transnistrian region is restored.

At the same time, we draw attention to the fact that the competent authorities of the Republic of Moldova can maintain direct communication and will provide answers to requests from people domiciled in the Transnistrian region, economic agents temporarily or permanently registered with the Public Services Agency, in accordance with the provisions of the Government Decision no. 815/2005, as well as exponents of the associative, academic and media sector in the region (point 18 of the Regulation on the organization and operation of the Bureau for reintegration policies within the State Chancellery).

An important aspect that must be emphasized is compliance with the legislation regarding the protection of personal data. It is inadmissible to disclose to the so-called structures on the left of the Nistru River the data that can contribute to the identification of an individual. Disclosure of personal data to Tiraspol in the absence of a control mechanism regarding the compliance of the processing of such information in the Transnistrian region to the legislation of the Republic of Moldova, as well as in the absence of the consent of the subject of personal data, expressed in written form, freely, expressly and unconditionally, generates serious violation of human rights.