A pretty rare passport of Transnistria
Rare passport of Transnistria
This is an internal passport issued by the Transnistria Moldavian Republic (or sometimes translated as Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic, PMR) – the official name of the country Приднестровская Молдавская Республика (ПМР). Rare passport of Transnistria
Most people haven’t even heard of Transnistria (also spelled Trans-Dniester), the breakaway state of Moldova that hugs its border with Ukraine. But with no direct access to the only three states that recognize Transnistria (Abkhazia; Nagorno-Karabakh, also known as the Republic of Artsakh; and South Ossetia – all, also disputed territories), the passport is essentially useless to its 500,000-odd residents. However, most hold dual or triple nationality with Russia, Moldova, or Ukraine, so they’re not exactly trapped in this landlocked enclave characterized by sleepy villages, abandoned Soviet factories, and vineyards that supply Tiraspol’s enormous Kvint brandy distillery. Rare passport of Transnistria
Since Transnistria declared independence 30 years ago, Tiraspol’s population has actually decreased by at least a third, with most residents having left to seek work in Russia due to declining economic prospects following the fall of the USSR.
Passport Description Rare passport of Transnistria
Its design is quite similar to the design of Soviet internal passports, as it was introduced in the 1990s years when these USSR internal passports were used widely in all former USSR countries. Furthermore, like in Soviet passports, there are three pages intended for photos of the passport holder of different ages (I don’t know the passport rules of Transnistria, but I think that 16 years, 25 years, 45 years like in USSR passports) because in USSR one internal passport was given to you in 16 years old, and it was a valid lifetime, and it must be renewed when you are 25 and 45 years old by gluing your current photos. Rare passport of Transnistria
The same for this Transnistria passport. These passports are printed locally in Transnistria as they have rather well-developed security printing companies that produce different documents, banknotes, and coins (incl. unusual shaped colorful ceramic coins). Almost all the pages inside have a coat of arms of Transnistria as background.
Front cover – coat of arms of Transnistria + ПАСПОРТ (Russian for passport)
Inside front cover – coat of arms of Transnistria and the words “Passport of the citizen of Transnistria Moldavian Republic” (Russian language)
Page 1 (intended for your photo when you are 16 years old) – photo of the passport holder (he is older than 16, and it looks like he receives this passport in exchange for lost passport maybe), last name Sarakutsa, first name Oleg, patronymic name Nikolaevich, and a signature of the passport holder. Rare passport of Transnistria
Page 2 – date of birth – 16th June 1989, place of birth – Tiraspol, nationality – Moldavian (in this field it means your origin and not your citizenship, like in USSR passports there are many nationalities (like Russian, Chuvash, Tatar, Ukrainian, Jew and Armenian and many others) and they were shown in the passports), issuing authority – passports department of Tiraspol OOPRR UpVM MVD PMR, signature and seal of this department, date of issue 03rd June 2017. All in Russian language.
Page 3 – coat of arms of Transnistria and the words “Passport of the citizen of Transnistria Moldavian Republic” (in Moldavian language)
Page 4 – the same info as on page 2 but in Moldavian language
Page 5 – coat of arms of Transnistria and the words “Passport of the citizen of Transnistria Moldavian Republic” (in Ukrainian language)
Page 6 – the same info as on pages 2 and 4 but in Ukrainian language
Page 7 – (intended for your photo when you are 25 years old) – the same photo as on page 1 and signature of the holder
Page 8 – it must be filled in with the information when the photo from page 7 is glued and by which authority – but it is empty
Page 9 – (intended for your photo when you are 45 years old) – as this guy is not of this age yet, this page is empty.
Page 10 – it must be filled in with the information when the photo from page 9 is glued and by which authority
Page 11 – marital status – it’s empty as he is not married.
Page 12 – also intended for marital status.
Page 13 – children (no children)
Page 14 – children (no children)
Page 15 – military obligations (he has obligations)
Page 16 – domicile address
Pages 17-27 – also for domicile addresses (as you can change it many times during your life)
Page 28 – QR code? I don’t know, maybe a link for a file in a database.
Inside back cover – some articles from their law about passports.
Back cover – empty
rare passport of Transnistria
Many thanks to my fellow collector Albert V. for providing this information and pictures of a most interesting state with a most interesting passport.
Tom Topol | Passport Historian & Author
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