The leadership of unrecognized Transnistria has ordered the dismantling of checkpoints installed at the entrance to the region — this is part of the gas agreement with Moldova.
This is reported by the Moldovan media outlet News Maker.
Checkpoints in Transnistria were established in 2022 in the Security Zone
The Moldovan government notes that military observers from the Mixed Peacekeeping Force reported that the main roads, as well as entrances and exits from settlements in the eastern regions of the Republic of Moldova in the Security Zone, have been unblocked, concrete barriers have been dismantled, and the associated infrastructure has been eliminated.
Energy crisis in Moldova
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, they have introduced fan-shaped power outages.
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, the leader of unrecognized Transnistria Vadim Krasnoselsky reported that Russia would resume gas supplies to unrecognized Transnistria — doing so in the format of humanitarian and technical assistance.
Moldova and the European Commission have developed a plan to end the humanitarian crisis in Transnistria. One of the points was an “emergency intervention” for the period from February 1 to 10. The EU offered 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.
At the same time, Moldova and unrecognized Transnistria signed a contract to supply three million cubic meters of gas on credit. Krasnoselsky said that Russia would provide the region with a loan to pay for Moldovan gas.
The gas transportation company “Moldovagaz” began supplying gas to the Transnistrian region on February 1, replacing Russiaʼs “Gazprom”. The gas “Moldovagaz” pumped was provided by Chisinau and the European Union to prevent pressure drops in the pipelines and a humanitarian crisis after the cessation of Russian gas supplies.
European gas supplies to Transnistria ended on February 10. The region will then be supplied with gas by a Hungarian company with the participation of “Moldovagaz”. This will be done using a loan from the Russian Federation.
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