TIRASPOL, February 1. /TASS/. Transnistria continues to negotiate natural gas supplies with Russia and Hungary for a longer term, the president of the unrecognized republic, Vadim Krasnoselsky, said at a news conference.
"We will continue work with our colleagues from Hungary, with our Russian colleagues, and other colleagues so that gas can flow to Transnistria on a thorough and long-term basis," he said.
Earlier reports said the Hungarian trader MET International AG had started booking gas pipeline capacities for suppling gas to Transnistria from February. Krasnoselsky noted that during his visit to Moscow, a loan for gas purchases was agreed. Initially, gas flows via Moldova’s Natural Gas were coordinated, but the Moldovan leadership protested against this company.
According to Krasnoselsky, starting on February 1, Transnistrian utility companies will gradually resume normal gas, electricity and heat supplies under a 30 million euro grant provided by the EU to facilitate gas purchases for the republic in the first 10 days of February.
Transnistria will not block electricity transit via Moldova to Romania, the Transnistrian leader said. "I am a very responsible person, and I can see potential consequences of all these steps. It is called escalation. We have not escalated things, and we will not do so," he assured reporters.