"Demography and we"

There was a meeting of the round table "Demography and we" in Tiraspol. Pridnestrovian scientists and young people became its participants. The website of “The Obnovlenie” (Renewal) reports the demographic situation in Pridnestrovie, the role of demography in the development of the state, was discussed during the meeting.

The presentation was made by Candidate of Geographical Sciences, Associate Professor, Head of the Laboratory "Regional Studies" of the CCU Andrey Krivenko. He compared the data of Pridnestrovian population censuses of 1989, 2004 and 2015, commented on the existing trends. According to him, there are two serious problems in the republic: reduction and aging of the population.

The scientist said that by the end of the 1980s, according to official data, there were about 750 thousand people living in Pridnestrovie, or more precisely 680 thousand, if we talk about the settlements that are now under the jurisdiction of Pridnestrovie. By 2015, the republic has 475,000 residents, and this figure continues to decline.

This process will continue, Andrei Krivenko predicts. The number of deaths over the number of births is constantly increasing in the republic after 1994, the outflow of the population abroad continues. Thus, 3.8% of citizens left Pridnestrovie more than a year ago, 11% - less than a year ago.

The share of elderly people in 2004 was 20% of the population of Pridnestrovie, and now it is already 27%, almost a third of the population. The north of the republic is emptying the fastest - there is the highest proportion of the elderly population. In the Kamenka region, this figure reached 34%. Another sad tendency is the disappearance of entire settlements. There are several villages and farms, where there are no people at all, in less than two settlements there live less than 50 people.

They spoke at the roundtable about positive changes: the life expectancy in the PMR has slightly increased, the infant mortality rates have seriously decreased. The data of polls conducted in the republic show that people are trying to leave the republic not only for economic reasons. They go for stability, for confidence in the future. To mitigate the negative processes in demography, the state needs to stimulate the birth rate, demonstrate to residents that there is stability

It was noted during the meeting that there is no clear migration policy in Pridnestrovie, although a package of laws was recently adopted in this area. Candidate of Geographical Sciences, Head of the Department of Socio-Economic Geography and Area Studies of the Faculty of Natural Geography of the St. Petersburg State University, Chairman of the Committee for Education, Science and Culture Mikhail Burla supposes that the statistics, including demographic indicators, should form the basis of the republic's development program. He said that the President Vadim Krasnoselsky in June instructed the government to develop such a document. The program will be designed for 8 years, until 2026. Mikhail Burla is a member of the working commission for its preparation.

The participants of the roundtable discussed the problems of the labor market, employment issues, the need for mandatory distribution training for those children who graduated from budgetary departments of universities. Young people advised in choosing a profession to take into account not only the expected wage, but also listen to the inner voice, and when working for a job - to actively look for different opportunities, boldly offer themselves to employers.