The Political Economy of the Post-Soviet De Facto States: A Paired Comparison of Transnistria and the Donetsk People’s Republic

Abstract

ABSTRACT What explains the economic endurance of the post-Soviet unrecognized states? Drawing insights from the scholarship on economic institutions, rentier states, and patron–client relations, this article explores the resource-extraction strategies of the post-Soviet de facto states via a paired comparison of Transnistria (PMR) and the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR). The authors conceptualize the post-Soviet de facto states as rentier clients and discuss the defining characteristics of PMR’s oligarchic model and DPR’s provisional dirigiste system. The two secessionist regions manage production, trade, tax, construct budgets, and shape property rights regimes, while receiving vital aid from the patron-state.