No idea why this is near the top of hackernews, but I've been there. One time when I was there, there was a huge billboard in front of the old ministry of culture with the (then) presidents of Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Transnistria smiling together. The local gag at the time was that this was the "Commonwealth of Unrecognized States" - meanwhile Putin was meeting the Commonwealth of Independent States in Chisnau. [1]<p>Far be it from me to attempt to summarize a nation in a few sentences, but one would be remiss without following up that article by saying the obvious.... Transnistria is a place run by gangsters. The hammer and sickle are printed on their money to appeal to the old folks who long for the days of Soviet protection, meanwhile everything is for sale - including people. This is a hub for the trafficking of everything.<p>I don't say this out of love for the state it broke away from, Moldova, the poorest country in Europe, the last communist country in Europe, which has all of the same problems at a different scale.<p>p.s. no need for endless paperwork - fifteen euros to the border guards will secure your entry no matter where you come from.<p>[1] <a href="http://imgur.com/8wf688Y" rel="nofollow">http://imgur.com/8wf688Y</a><p><i></i> edited to change: I wrote "fifty" euros when I meant "fifteen" - I probably overpaid, but not by that much!!
A Vice article on it:<p><a href="http://www.vice.com/en_uk/read/atlas-hoods-weapons-smuggling-youth-cults-in-the-country-that-doesnt-exist" rel="nofollow">http://www.vice.com/en_uk/read/atlas-hoods-weapons-smuggling...</a><p>It is basically a Russian foothold closer to Western Europe. The only reason that regime exists is because the Russian army is there.<p>It is a hub of human, weapons and drug trafficking and a nice place to hide if you want deal in shady things like that. Moldovan police can't go there and Russian police doesn't care.<p>Another article:<p><a href="http://www.investigatii.md/eng/index.php?art=221" rel="nofollow">http://www.investigatii.md/eng/index.php?art=221</a>
Guys, I live there all my life, in Tiraspol, and I don't agree with you.<p>Here's no gangsters, no communism. Of course it is not as developed as Chisinau, but far better place to live than the rest of Moldova and Ukraine.<p>Pensions are much higher than in Moldova, lots of people from Chisinau when they get old buy here appartment and move over.<p>Questions are welcome. Can make proofs if needed
Transnistria was one of the strangest places I ever visited. It still lives in their old Soviet times and you can find statues of Lenin everywhere. Other than that there is not much to do in this country.<p>To illustrate the state of this country, you can take a look on results of election in 2001: Igor Smirnov won, collecting 103,6% of votes.
There's an excellent SF novella, Walter Jon Williams' <i>The Green Leopard Plague</i>, where Transnistrian corruption happens to be a major plot device. The other characters derisively call the Transnistrian government "Trashcanistanis." This story was my first encounter with Transnistria, and it seemed weird enough to be fictional, but later I found out it was real.
See also <a href="http://www.idlewords.com/2009/06/transnistria.htm" rel="nofollow">http://www.idlewords.com/2009/06/transnistria.htm</a>
I was there in 2003 and I can confirm that when people realize that you're a foreigner they just stare at you like you come from an over planet !<p>It was an interesting experience, people are really nice and are remarkable hosts (if you don't mind being stared at ;-).