BUDAPEST, February 21. /TASS/. Hungary helped prevent a humanitarian disaster in Transnistria by facilitating the delivery of gas to the unrecognized republic, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said at a press conference after a meeting in Budapest with Christian Hafenecker, Secretary General of Austria’s National Council for the Freedom Party.
Szijjarto recalled that several weeks ago he had been contacted by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, who oversees energy issues in the government.
"He said that a terrible humanitarian catastrophe is beginning to develop in Transnistria due to the possible lack of gas supply for people who are already in peril," Szijjarto noted.
According to him, on hearing this he "consulted with a Hungarian-owned energy company, as well as with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Moldova." As a result, it was decided that "a company of Hungarian origin will supply natural gas to the territory of Transnistria," the minister said.
He specified that the gas was supplied not from Hungary but by a company whose main stakeholder is Hungarian. This company "concluded a contract to transit supplies" of gas to Transnistria, Szijjarto explained. "Thus, with the participation of Hungary, it was possible to prevent a very serious humanitarian catastrophe," the head of the Foreign Ministry concluded.
About gas supplies to Transnistria
On February 14, the European energy company MET Group, which is Hungarian-owned, announced that it was starting gas supplies to Moldova. According to reports from Chisinau and Tiraspol, these supplies ensured the fuel supply of Transnistria.
"This was only possible thanks to the decisive contribution of the relevant transport system operators from the EU, Ukraine and Moldova," said the Swiss-based MET Group.
That same day, Transnistrian President Vadim Krasnoselsky announced the delivery of the first batch of gas purchased with Russia's support to the unrecognized republic. The deliveries were made by a division of MET Group, MET Gas and Energy Marketing AG, which was supposed to receive payment from JNX General Trading LLC from Dubai.
After Ukraine stopped transiting Russian gas to Europe on January 1, and due to Chisinau's refusal to pay its debt to Gazprom, Moldova and Transnistria were left without gas supplies. Moreover, Tiraspol was in a complete gas blockade. Industrial enterprises in Transnistria were shut down, rolling blackouts were in effect, and apartment buildings had no heating or hot water amid sub-zero temperatures outside.
Later, the Transnistrian authorities reported that gas was being supplied to their region without interruption. They also noted that the fuel supplies were made possible thanks to Russia’s financial support.