At the moment, the Republic of Moldova cannot terminate the natural gas supply contract with Gazprom, as they are used to provide energy to Transnistria in order to avoid a humanitarian crisis in this separatist region, said the Minister of Energy in an interview with Agerpres from Chisinau, Viktor Parlikov.

“Moldovagaz” recently resumed the import of gas from Russia, from “Gazprom”.

“He did not represent the interests of the Government at all”

When asked whether this decision contradicts the policy of the Chisinau government, Viktor Parlikov replied that “it was not agreed with the government” and “absolutely does not represent the interests of the government”:

• “Usually the company please… would decide which source, but this is a politically sensitive topic and we warned the company about it and they have reviewed the decision. They returned to the purchase of gas from Energokom.”

Asked whether measures were being taken against Moldovagaz, the energy minister from Chisinau said he believed “there were no bad intentions”:

• “I think it was more of a mistake and a misunderstanding, an attempt to avoid some tension, so to speak, at the enterprise level, but I think that the political messages that we send to our friends in the West are much more important, because it was us who assumed and they did that all winter.
• We passed it practically without Russian gas on the right bank, and I do not understand what was the need to return to the purchase of gas from Gazprom after the end of the heating season.”

“We must understand that Gazprom maintains its role”

Will the Government of the Republic of Moldova demand termination of the contract with Gazprom?

The Minister of Energy from Chisinau says that “terminating the contract is not a problem”:

• “We must understand that Gazprom maintains its role, and it is quite an important role, in supplying gas, especially to the region to the left of the Dniester.
• At the moment, the Transnistrian region is supplied with gas only from Gazprom, and no one is ready to supply gas there de facto for free today, as Gazprom does.
• This allows, on the one hand, to maintain social stability on the left bank of the Dniester so that we do not find ourselves in a crisis of scale, including a humanitarian one, and on the other hand, it indirectly affects the electricity market in the Republic of Moldova, because most of the electricity, which we consume here, on the right bank of the Dniester, comes from, is produced at a thermal power plant in the Transnistrian region from gas, which is actually supplied free of charge.
• This allows us to amortize or reduce, have a slightly lower cost of energy, both for citizens and for the economy. We understand that this cannot last forever, but it would still be wrong to avoid or deny the fact that Gazprom plays a role in the market of the Republic of Moldova, rather in the electricity market. Because of this, at the moment there is no talk of terminating the contract with Gazprom.”

“In Transnistria it is not only about energy or gas supply, it is a matter of regional security”

The Minister of Energy of Chisinau, Viktor Parlikov, answered the question of whether the Government is considering independence from Russian gas in the near or distant future:

• “We, I repeat, have already demonstrated for consumers in the region under the control of the constitutional government that we can refuse gas from the Russian Federation and gas from Gazprom in record time.”
• At the same time, as I have already said, we are talking about the Transnistrian region, where we are talking not only about energy or gas supply, but about the problem of regional security, if you will, which will have to be solved.
• When we can solve this problem and we can solve it and reintegrate them into the Republic of Moldova, then Gazprom’s role in maintaining this illusion of independence to the left of the Dniester will disappear.”

The Moldovan official also noted that Romania currently supplies only 3% of the electricity consumed by the Republic of Moldova, and most of the energy comes from the Kuchurgan power plant in Transnistria.