Moldova promised to apply to EC if gas transit through Ukraine is halted

Moldova will ask for help from the European Commission in finding a solution for stable gas supply to the country if Ukraine stops transit. This was announced by Moldovagaz vice-president Vadym Ceban on November 28.

"The key risks for the continuation of transit through Ukraine are both Kiev's unwillingness to prolong the transit agreement and military actions..... In case the uncertainty continues, Moldova will be forced to turn to the European Commission for help in finding a compromise solution for a stable gas supply to the country," JurnalTV quoted Ceban as saying.

The vice-president said that if Ukraine does not prolong the agreement on gas transit, Moldova will look for other ways through the Trans-Balkan corridor. According to Ceban, it is also important to sign operator agreements between Gazprom, Naftohaz Ukrayiny and gas transportation system operators. In the absence of such agreements, it will be impossible to carry out gas transit, including for Transnistria and other European countries.

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Earlier, on November 26, Moldovan Deputy Prime Minister for Reintegration Oleg Serebryan said that if Russia stops supplying gas to Transnistria after stopping the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine, it will not just be a crisis for Moldova, but will turn into a real humanitarian catastrophe.

Before that, on November 22, Moldovan Energy Minister Victor Parlicov said that Transnistria may face energy difficulties from January 1 if Russia's Gazprom stops gas supplies. The energy minister said that the country needs the help of foreign partners, but neither Brussels nor Washington, which will not finance the Transnistrian region.

On November 20, former president and leader of the opposition Party of Socialists Igor Dodon said that the strategic partnership between Moldova and Russia should be resumed and sanctions should be lifted. Prior to that, on November 9, Parlikov said that Chisinau was asking Russian energy company Gazprom to clarify gas supplies without waiting until December 31, when the five-year contract on transit through Ukraine expires.

Oleksiy Chernyshov, head of the Ukrainian energy company Naftogaz, said for the first time on October 29, 2023, that Ukraine has no intention to extend the contract on the transit of Russian gas through its territory. On August 27, 2024, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, whose term of office expired on May 20, said that Ukraine will not extend the gas transit agreement with Russia, which expires at the end of this year.

The day after the Ukrainian president's statement, the Moldovan energy ministry said that it had prepared an action plan in case Russian gas supplies were cut off.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a plenary session of the IX Eastern Economic Forum (VEF-2024) in Vladivostok on September 5 that Russia was not giving up gas transit through Ukraine. According to Putin, Gazprom plans to fulfill all its obligations under long-term contracts.