Transnistria's head accused Moldova of shifting its debt to Gazprom

The president of the unrecognized Transnistrian Moldovan Republic (TMR), Vadim Krasnoselskyy, has said that Moldova is unreasonably shifting its debt to Gazprom to Transnistria. This was reported on January 1 by the press service on the website of the DMR head.

"The Russian supplier ["Gazprom"] points out that the restriction of natural gas supply is caused by regular non-fulfillment of payment obligations by "Moldovagaz" JSC, and the Moldovan company in its letter unreasonably shifted the responsibility to the Transnistrian organization ["Tiraspoltransgaz"]", - Krasnoselsky said.

The DMR head noted that Gazprom had never expressed any claims against the Transnistrian company. In addition, he said that Moldovan mass media actively misinform that the debt to Gazprom is allegedly Transnistrian and not Moldovan. Krasnoselsky once again emphasized that these statements are unfounded and false.

"Tiraspoltransgaz" reacted to the accusations from Moldova with a letter stating that Moldovagaz's claims are untenable.

Gas for that: Moldavia expects protests after transit through Ukraine is cut off

With whom Chisinau will have to negotiate now

Earlier in the day, it was reported that the Moldovan State District Power Plant (MGRES) in Transnistria switched to using coal due to the cessation of gas supplies from Russia. Preliminarily, coal reserves will be enough for 50-52 days.

Earlier in the day, centralized heating was cut off in Transnistria after Gazprom stopped supplying Russian gas via Ukraine. Gas stopped flowing also to Moldova because of the country's unpaid debts. In turn, Moldovan Prime Minister Dorin Recean did not recognize the debt and threatened to sue.

"Gazprom and Moldovagaz signed a five-year contract for gas supplies in the fall of 2021. It provided for Chisinau to pay the debt for supplies in the past few years. The entire amount was estimated at $709 million, of which Chisinau officially recognizes only $8.6 million.