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Chisinau, Kiev agree not to obstruct Russian gas transit to Transnistria

According to Victor Parlicov, Ukraine and Moldova informally agreed that transit via Turkey, Bulgaria and Romania can be a viable option

CHISINAU, May 31. /TASS/. Ukraine and Moldova have reached a preliminary agreement not to obstruct deliveries of Russian gas to the unrecognized republic of Transnistria after 2024, Moldovan Energy Minister Victor Parlicov told Bloomberg in an interview.

"We will not obstruct this transit, because we do not want to create a crisis in the region, especially since this crisis immediately becomes the problem of the whole of Moldova," the agency quoted him as saying. "But we won’t act as a governmental guarantor for any gas contract."

According to Parlicov, Kiev and Chisinau informally agreed that transit via Turkey, Bulgaria and Romania can be a viable option. However, because of the design of the pipeline, the transit would still have to go through the territory of Ukraine. Therefore, a permission from the Kiev government was required.

In 2022, Gazprom, which was previously the only gas supplier to the republic, reduced its daily supply by 30%. The Russian company explained this by technical problems related to the restriction of transit through Ukraine. However, Chisinau blamed the crisis on the Russian gas holding. Amid this situation Moldova fully shifted to fuel purchases from European suppliers through the state company Energocom, and the Russian gas goes to Transnistria.

The governments of Moldova and Transnistria are looking for alternative supply routes in case Ukraine fully stops Russian gas transit via its territory when its contract with Gazprom expires on January 1, 2025.

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