Moldova will lend three million cubic meters of gas to Transnistria

Author:
Iryna Perepechko
Date:

Moldova and the European Commission have jointly developed a plan to end the humanitarian crisis in Transnistria and ensure the sustainability of the regionʼs energy sector.

This decision was announced by Prime Minister Dorin Recan, IPN reports.

The support package consists of three components. According to the Prime Minister, the Moldovan government will provide a loan of three million cubic meters of gas to Transnistria so that they can maintain pressure in the natural gas system there.

The leader of unrecognized Transnistria Vadim Krasnoselsky before the message from the Moldovan Prime Minister, stated that "in the coming days" Moldova should make a decision on supplying gas to the region, and if there is no "physical resistance" from some Moldovan officials, the gas will be in Transnistria by the end of the week.

The second point of the EU support package provides for an “emergency intervention” for the period from February 1 to 10. The European Union is offering a grant of €30 million for the purchase of natural gas for this period, to generate electricity for the right bank and ensure natural gas consumption for the left bank.

The last point of the plan is a comprehensive energy sustainability program for the next two years. This includes the necessary investments in both electricity production and distribution, as well as measures to reduce electricity tariffs for all Moldovan citizens. According to the Prime Minister, this comprehensive program should be completed within the next three weeks.

Energy crisis in Transnistria

From January 1, 2025, Ukraine stopped the transit of Russian gas, which several EU states and the unrecognized Transnistria continued to receive.

At the same time, Moldova did not agree to Russiaʼs demands to continue supplying gas to Transnistria via an alternative route through the Balkans. Therefore, on December 28, 2024, “Gazprom” officially announced that it would stop supplying gas to Transnistria from January due to "non-fulfillment of payment obligations".

In Transnistria, the supply of heat and hot water to residential buildings has been cut off. In high-rise buildings, gas is available only for cooking. It is supplied from reserves in the gas pipeline system, but only until the pressure in the network drops to a critical level. Industrial enterprises have suspended work, and since January 3, fanned power outages have been introduced.

At first, the Transnistrian Republic refused to help Moldova purchase gas on European markets, waiting for the Russian Gazprom to resume supplies.

On January 15, Krasnoselsky informed that Russia would resume gas supplies to unrecognized Transnistria — doing so in the format of humanitarian and technical assistance.

As early as January 20, Transnistria agreed to receive gas from the Moldovan state-owned company “Moldovagaz”. The region pledged to pay for these supplies.

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