Vitaly Ignatyev, the foreign affairs chief of Transnistria, a breakaway region in Moldova, said Transnistria still counts Russia as its main gas supplier, adding that technically, Transnistria could also receive Russian gas via Türkiye and the Balkans.
He noted that with gas supplies via the TurkStream pipeline, political decisions are needed. "We also received gas via TurkStream for some periods last year. This means that there are no technical problems, but only administrative, organizational and legal issues that need to be resolved. All this requires some serious efforts, including on the part of Moldova," he said in an interview broadcast on the Rossiya-24 news channel.
He also said that "resuming gas supplies in the previous direction, through the territory of Ukraine" is "the most economically reasonable option" to solve the current energy crisis.
Gas supplies to Moldova were suspended in early January after Russian gas stopped transiting through Ukraine and Chisinau refused to settle the debt for consumed fuel, which Russia estimated at $709 million.
Unlike Moldova, Transnistria has no alternative gas source. To conserve energy, Transnistria has shut down its central heating system and hot water supply to households, closed industrial enterprises, and implemented rolling blackouts.
The Cuciurgan Power Plant (Moldova), located in Transnistria, has been switched from gas to coal operation and the plant's reserves will be enough until the end of January or mid-February.
