It can be called a tale of two countries. Both Ukraine and Moldova, republics of the Soviet Union until declaring independence in 1991, recently held parliamentary elections. In Ukraine, voters elected more center-right pro-business legislators to office than communists and left-wing socialists. In neighboring Moldova, years of economic decline in this mostly agricultural country brought the Communist Party back to power.

Ukraine’s March 31 parliamentary election was a major victory for pro-business parties. Final election results point to economic reformers holding a solid majority in that country’s 450-seat parliament, with the communist and socialist parties occupying less than 100 seats. However, pro-business deputies can be split into two groups: pro-democracy legislators, who share western political values on the one hand; and those aligned with sitting President Leonid Kuchma, who rules with semi-authoritarian methods from the Soviet past.

In the neighboring small country of Moldova, the Communist Party holds an overwhelming majority in the parliament as well as the presidency for the first time since that country won independence in 1991. However, recent government edicts have led to a sustained and growing popular uprising. What has been called a fight for the soul of the country recently culminated in an 80,000-strong protest on April 1 which brought out students, politicians, professionals and homemakers concerned that their hard-fought freedoms and independence were being eroded away by the communist-dominated government.

This edition of Access PBN contains dispatches from two senior PBN staffers on the political situation in Ukraine and Moldova. In the first, The PBN Company’s Senior Vice President Myron Wasylyk explains that while the pro-business factions have won a ruling majority in the parliament, internal discord and disagreements threaten their ability to lead. Victoria Guzun, who has served as The PBN Company’s Managing Director in Moldova since 1993, provides insight on the social and political strife that calls into questions the very independence of the country.