Moldova to ship first 3 mcm of gas to breakaway region on Saturday, company says

By Alexander Tanas CHISINAU (Reuters) - Moldova on Saturday will send 3 million cubic metres (mcm) of gas to its separatist enclave Transdniestria, the first fuel supply to the area since end-December, when gas transit through Ukraine was halted, a Moldovan industry official said on Friday. The delivery will start in the morning and it is intended to fill the Transdniestrian gas system, which is already experiencing a shortage of gas to maintain pressure. "According to the contract between Moldovagaz and Tiraspoltransgaz, this volume of gas is provided as a debt to be repaid by March 1, 2025," Moldovagaz CEO Vadim Ceban told Reuters.

Tens of thousands of people in the region have been without gas or winter heating since Jan. 1, when Russia's Gazprom suspended gas exports to the region, citing an unpaid Moldovan debt of $709 million that Chisinau does not recognise as valid. Moscow blames the suspension of gas supplies on pro-Western Moldova and Ukraine, which refused to extend a five-year gas transit deal that expired on Dec.



31, on the grounds that the proceeds help fund Russia's invasion. Moldova's authorities have said that despite a valid contract and the option of an alternative transit route, Gazprom is refusing to supply gas in order to destabilise its government ahead of this year's parliamentary elections. MORE SUPPLY This 3 million cubic metres will precede a larger gas supply, paid for by the European Union, which issued 30 million euros ($31.

14 million) to provide Transdniestria and Moldova with both heat and electricity. Alexandru Slusar, a member of the Administrative Board of the Moldovan state-owned Energocom company, told Reuters that 20 million euros would be used to buy gas for Transdniestria and 10 million euros will be spent by Chisinau to buy electricity on the exchange in Romania. A Moldovan industry source said that Tiraspol would buy gas from the Moldova's Energocom at an average rate of 3 mcm per day in February 1-10 and Moldovagaz would deliver this gas to the Transdniestrian company Tiraspoltransgaz.

It is not clear how the separatist region, which has been receiving free gas from Russia for decades, will ensure gas supply after Feb. 10. ($1 = 0.

9633 euros) (Writing by Pavel Polityuk; editing by David Evans).