Moldovagaz is discussing with Gazprom alternative routes for gas supplies to the Transnistrian region in case transit through Ukraine is terminated on January 1, 2025 – Ministry of Energy
This was announced by Energy Minister Victor Parlicov on Moldova 1, noting that the Moldovan side is conducting a dialogue on this topic with all interested parties, and there is a much broader discussion that also affects the EU countries – Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, which may also suffer from the termination of Russian gas transit through Ukraine on January 1, 2025. According to him, this is also a larger-scale process for Ukraine, because it concerns its relations with Russia, and there the package of discussions, including everything related to the end of the war and the conditions, preconditions, is much broader. "A significant part of these discussions is not held in the open space and is not announced anywhere, they are informal. You have noticed that over the past few years, despite the war in Ukraine, the gas infrastructure has been virtually untouched, while electricity production in Ukraine has been destroyed. I mean, we never know what these discussions are and what the conditions are. But it is important for us to understand this. We know that there are solutions. Moldovagaz has approached Gazprom to understand whether it is ready to use an alternative route. Of course, there are certain deadlines in this regard, because it is necessary to reserve capacities in advance for transporting gas via an alternative route,” said Viсtor Parliсov. According to him, the deadline for quarterly capacities has not yet expired, this will happen in November. “But if it is not reserved in November, then capacity can be reserved monthly, starting from December. At the moment, I think this uncertainty is due to the lack of mutual understanding at a higher level than the Transnistrian region and the Republic of Moldova. We must be ready for both scenarios. And we are ready. This was the point of developing the winterization plan. We mentioned the main scenarios there, there are many more. But I can say with confidence that, at least as far as gas tariffs are concerned, they will not increase. I do not see how they can increase. At least, if the market does not panic about everything related to wars, including in the area of Iran and Israel, then I think that, on the contrary, gas prices in Moldova will decrease, but I do not want to promise this decrease in tariffs now. I want to say that, of course, we are not talking about raising tariffs now," the head of the Ministry of Energy emphasized. According to him, there will be more clarity on the issue of Gazprom gas supplies to the Transnistrian region in November-December. "But, for sure, there are solutions, and if we see that Gazprom does not find a solution, we will have to intervene in this situation," he said.// 28.10.2024 — InfoMarket
