TIRASPOL, November 18 (RIA Novosti, Vladimir Sandutsa) - Transdnestr, a self-declared republic in Moldova, opened a mint Friday to make its own coins, a local bank official said.
Yury Tverdokhleb, head of the Transdnestr Republican Bank, said at the opening ceremony that the mint had been set up to meet the republic's full-cycle coin-minting needs at home rather than placing minting orders abroad.
Tverdokhleb said new coins would be put into circulation from November 21.
The republic's currency is the Trans-Dniester ruble, with coin sub-denominations of 1, 5, 10, 25, and 50 kopeks. Up until now, banknotes have been printed in the republic and coins minted in Poland.
