Transnistria Rejects €60M EU Aid for Gas Due to Russian Influence

Transnistrian authorities have refused to accept 60 million euros from the European Union to finance gas purchases.

This was announced by Moldovan Prime Minister Dorin Recean.

"In the medium term, the EU's offer of 60 million euros could have been a solution that could have saved the Transnistrian region from energy blackmail and instability. Tiraspol rejected this solution," Dorin Recean wrote.

According to the Moldovan prime minister, Russia did not allow Tiraspol to accept European aid for fear of losing control of the region. At the same time, Dorin Recean added that the authorities in Chisinau will not block gas supplies to Transnistria, and described the scheme under which the region will be supplied with gas.

According to the scheme, MET Gas and Energy Marketing AG, a Hungarian company, will receive payment from JNX General Trading L.L.C. from Dubai and deliver gas to the border with the Republic of Moldova under a contract signed with Moldovagaz. Tiraspol will pay in advance for transit costs for gas transported from the border with Moldova to the region, based on an agreement between Moldovagaz and Tiraspoltransgaz, the Moldovan prime minister said in a post.

Chisinau will allow this transit if Tiraspol "takes several actions to demonstrate openness," Dorin Recean said. In particular, it is about the release of political prisoners, the preservation of Moldovan public television in the broadcasting network and the elimination of control posts established in 2022.

On January 1, Transnistria stopped supplying heat and hot water to households and businesses. This was the result of the suspension of Russian gas transportation through Ukraine. On December 9, 2024, the so-called leader of Transnistria, Vadim Krasnosilsky, declared a state of economic emergency due to the threat of a cutoff in Russian gas supplies.

Кирило Бойко