MOSCOW, May 6. /TASS/. A "hot conflict" scenario in Transnistria is completely disadvantageous for Chisinau, and Moldovan authorities would like to avoid it, says Valdai club expert, chief researcher at Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of World Economy and International Relations, Dmitry Ofitserov-Belsky.

Despite the fact that the West is constantly pushing Moldovan President Maia Sandu to escalation of the situation in the region, "a conflict scenario is something that the current Moldovan leadership would very much like to avoid," the expert told TASS. "They are afraid of such development of the situation, and such man-made catastrophe is not among the Moldovan leadership’s goals."

This is connected to the fact that Moldova has enough problems already.

"I mean economic problems, and they will only get worse," Ofitserov-Belsky believes. The Moldovan economy, he opined, has not yet fully recovered from the coronavirus pandemic; the pandemic was preceded by a strong drought, which also harmed the economy.

"There are currently no reasons to expect any economic breakthroughs in a good sense of this word. Therefore, if a conflict happens, there are no guarantees that the Moldovan leadership will manage to hold the power during the next elections, for example. Therefore, they, of course, totally don’t need that," the expert explained.

Speaking about the relations between Chisinau and Tiraspol, the expert noted that, despite the periodic exchange of "pleasantries," the sides learned how to overcome disagreements.

"They have perfectly normal relations. They are able to negotiate very well on many things; that said, they can make loud statements on camera now, but then have a phone call and resolve all issues in private," he noted.

According to Ofitserov-Belsky, the two territories have co-existed very well in terms of energy; many Transnistrian citizens also have Moldovan passports; the youth has no trouble entering and studying in Moldovan colleges; and there are also business interests. Therefore, the expert explained, there is a large multitude of ties that would be very painful to cut.

"Therefore I can state with certainty that the Moldovan side is the one most concerned that a conflict may spark," the analyst concluded.