Having declared independence from the Republic of Moldova, and after the collapse of the USSR in 1992, Transnistria created its own currency, the PMR rubles, but did not print its own banknotes. The Soviet ruble in the form of banknotes continued to be used as legal tender locally. Thus, Transnistria became the only territory of the former Soviet bloc to continue to accept old Soviet rubles as legal currency. This entailed a huge influx of Soviet rubles into the tiny economy, with people from all over the former Soviet Union, in an attempt to salvage their savings and investments. In an effort to protect the local economy from hyperinflation and inevitable collapse, the General Suvorov series of fiscal stamps were affixed to a banknote to differentiate PMR rubles from old Soviet rubles.