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Moldova Ships First Delivery Of Gas To Transdniestria

The logo of the Moldovagaz energy company is seen on the facade of the building where the company used to be headquartered, in Chisinau, Moldova October 26, 2021. REUTERS/Vladislav Culiomza

Moldova Ships First Delivery Of Gas To Transdniestria

Reuters
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February 1, 2025
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CHISINAU, Feb 1 (Reuters) – Moldovan energy company Moldovagaz shipped the first batch of 3 million cubic meters of natural gas on Saturday to the Russian-backed separatist enclave Transdniestria, the first deliveries since Russian gas transit through Ukraine was stopped, the company said.

Since New Year the pro-Moscow enclave, where Russia has deployed troops in support of the breakaway administration, has faced power and heating cuts in the middle of the winter following Ukraine’s refusal to renew the agreement to transit Russian gas during almost three years of war between Kyiv and Moscow.

Moldovagaz CEO Vadim Ceban said the deliveries were intended to fill the Transdniestrian gas system, which is already experiencing a shortage of gas to maintain pressure.

To ensure consumer supplies, Moldova’s domestic energy supplier Energocom said that it started gas purchases for Transdniestria on the European markets from Feb. 1. 

It would use the funds provided by the European Union to buy from the European stock markets for daily consumption of about 3 million cubic meters of natural gas, officials said.

Gas supplies have been an ongoing source of tension between Russia and Moldova, which lies between Ukraine and Romania.

Transdniestria’s separatist leader Vadim Krasnoselsky said he hoped that the worst was already over. 

“It was a difficult test for everyone…But we rallied together, consolidated our efforts, and coped,” he said on the Telegram app.

Earlier this month, the prime minister of Moldova’s pro-European central government said Russia was intent on bringing to power a Moscow-friendly government in the country. He said Moscow would probably provide volumes of gas too small to ensure electricity supplies to both rebel and government-held areas.

Moscow blames the suspension of gas supplies on Moldova and Ukraine, which refused to extend a five-year gas transit deal that expired on Dec. 31 on the grounds that the proceeds help fund Russia’s invasion.

Related Article: End of the Line: Ukraine Set to Cut Russia’s Last Gas Link to Europe

(Reporting by Alexandr Tanas, writing by Olena Harmash; Editing by Angus MacSwan)

(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2025.

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