Moldova says end of Russian gas for Transdniestria 'very realistic scenario'

By Alexander Tanas

CHISINAU (Reuters) -The termination of Russian gas supplies to Moldova's breakaway region of Transdniestria after Jan. 1, 2025 is a "very realistic" scenario, Energy Minister Victor Parlicov said on Wednesday after talks with Russia's Gazprom.

Parliсov spoke with the head of Gazprom on Monday to discuss alternative routes to supply Transdniestria if transit through Ukraine stops.

The current gas-transit agreement between Ukraine and Russia ends on Dec. 31 and Ukraine has said it will not extend it. The unrecognised, Russian-backed Transdniestria region depends heavily on Russian natural gas supplied via Ukraine.

Parliсov told a press conference in Chisinau that Gazprom was ready to supply gas to Transdniestria via the current route, but that it was up to Moldova and Ukraine to agree on transit.

"From discussions with my Ukrainian colleagues, I understand that if there is a decision to continue transit, it may be taken at the last moment," Parlicov said.

Moldova receives about 2 billion cubic metres of gas per year from Russia through Ukraine and since 2022, Transdniestria and Chisinau have agreed that all Russian gas received by Moldova will go to the breakaway region.

Transdniestria has a large power plant fuelled by Russian gas and Chisinau, in turn, buys electricity from the region at a relatively low fixed price.

Parlicov, speaking later on Moldovan TV8 television, said he felt during his talks in St. Petersburg that Russia was less forthright in its commitment to supporting Transdniestria, which it has backed since the collapse of Soviet rule in the 1990s.

"This is already not a taboo subject like it was before," he said.

As an example, he said, Transdniestria's steel mill, a key exporter, had been left virtually unable to operate after a Russian attack on a power substation in southern Ukraine.

He acknowledged that if gas supplies were cut to Transdniestria, the region would need financial help to survive and avoid a humanitarian catastrophe.

ALTERNATIVE ROUTE

Moldova has said that if Ukraine ends the transit of Russian gas an alternative for Transdniestria could be gas supplied by the TurkStream pipeline to Turkey and then through Bulgaria and Romania.

However, Parlicov told the briefing that Gazprom in the talks had linked continued deliveries via alternative routes to its demands that Moldova pay a debt on past supplies, which according to Russian calculations stands at $709 million.

Moldova has said its debt is $8.6 million.

"We believe that it's incorrect to link the debt problems with supplies (to Transdniestria)," Parliсov said.

He said that supply via both Ukraine and alternative routes could stop on Jan. 1 and then Chisinau would need international support to pay for gas from other sources.

Gazprom has not commented on the meeting with Moldova's minister.

(Reporting by Alexander Tanas, writing by Pavel Polityuk; editing by Jason Neely, Ron Popeski and Rod Nickel)