Full-scale gas supplies to Transdniestria being restored from Oct 17 - Moldovagaz
CHISINAU. Oct 17 (Interfax) - The supply of natural gas to Transdniestria is being restored from October 17 in the contracted volumes, the acting board chairman of Moldovagaz Vadim Ceban said.
"From October 17, full-scale supplies of natural gas to the Transdniestrian region of Moldova are resuming in the contract volumes necessary to meet the needs of all categories of consumers. This will allow for the restoration of the hot water supply and the start of the heating season," Ceban said on his Telegram channel.
On October 10, Ceban said that the volumes of gas contracted and paid for by Tiraspoltransgaz were sufficient for consumption in Transdniestria until October 16 this year.
Ceban said that gas supplies to Transdniestria continue within the framework of the existing contract with the company MET Gas and Energy Marketing AG, to which appendices for the purchase of additional volumes, covering the second half of October, November and December, as well as the necessary reserves for the winter period, have been signed.
Payments for these volumes should be made by Tiraspoltransgaz through its payment agent.
On October 2, the authorities of Transdniestria reported that they were introducing a gas saving regime for a week and a half due to a disruption in supplies, which are paid for with financial assistance from Russia. "Due to unfavorable external circumstances related to the need to restore the financial flow of assistance from the Russian Federation, gas sufficient for all the needs of Transdniestria will come to us in a week and a half. During this period, gas will be supplied on a strict economy basis," said Sergei Obolonik, the Economic Development Minister of the unrecognized Transdniestrian Moldovan Republic.
A representative of the Moldovan state company Energocom, Alexandru Slusari, said on October 7 that the supply of natural gas to the Transdniestrian region was again suspended because "European banks are blocking transactions [for payment of gas supplies to Transdniestria] after a certain number of operations, arguing that payments in the form of 'donations' do not have a clear economic meaning."
"The paying company is changing again. Now a fourth company in the UAE is trying to find a European bank willing to accept the payments, but so far no one has given consent," Slusari said.
It was previously reported that gas supplies to the left bank of the Dniester were suspended from January 1, 2025, amid a stoppage of Russian gas transit through Ukraine and a dispute between Gazprom and the Moldovan authorities over the historical debt of Moldovagaz (more than 60% of the shares of which belong to Gazprom) for gas amounting to over $700 million.
From February 14, gas supplies were resumed under an interim scheme: the Hungarian company MET Gas and Energy Marketing AG delivers gas to the border with Moldova, and an equivalent amount is paid by an offshore company from Dubai. At the border, 3.2 million cubic meters per day is accepted by Moldovagaz and redirected to Tiraspol on a prepayment basis.
In mid-August 2025, Moldova's National Agency for Energy Regulation appointed Moldovagaz as the entity responsible for supplying natural gas to the Transdniestrian region until March 31, 2026.
