PMR President Admits Russian Gas Supplies via Turkish Stream

Russian gas may be supplied to Transnistria via the Turkish Stream. This was announced on 11 December by the president of the unrecognized Transnistrian Moldovan Republic (TMR), Vadim Krasnoselsky, at a plenary session of the TMR's supreme council on the issue of imposing an economic state of emergency.

Krasnoselsky noted that the contract on gas transit through Ukraine expires on December 31, 2024. He explained that gas can be supplied to the territory of Transnistria in two directions - through the territory of Ukraine and via Turkish Stream.

"The options, in principle, are there, but the agreements are not quite," he said in a statement published on the president's website.

He specified that neither Russia nor Ukraine wished to hinder the supply of natural gas to Transnistria.

The DMR head said that meetings would soon be held to clarify the action plan of all officials and "everything that concerns tasks and problems."

"There are chances. I think there is enough common sense to realize that it is necessary to keep the current flows, the current supply, and provide both gas and electricity to both the left and right bank," Krasnoselsky concluded.

Earlier in the day it was reported that the PMR Supreme Council approved Krasnoselsky's decree on the introduction of an economic state of emergency amid uncertainty over Russian gas supplies through Ukraine. It was noted that the regime will start to operate six hours after the decree is confirmed. The term of the economic emergency is 30 days with the possibility of extension.

Before that, on December 6, Krasnoselsky said during a meeting with members of the Security Council of the DMR that an economic state of emergency was being introduced in Transnistria due to the current difficult situation in the energy sector.

On November 26, Moldovan Deputy Prime Minister for Reintegration Oleg Serebryan said that a possible termination of gas supplies to Transnistria by the Russian Federation after the stoppage of Russian gas transit through Ukraine would turn into a humanitarian catastrophe. According to him, such a situation should be avoided by any state. On 22 November, Moldovan Energy Minister Victor Parlicov said that Transnistria might face energy difficulties from 1 January if Russia's Gazprom stops gas supplies.