Premierul Moldova Natalia Gavrilita si Premierul Romania Nicolae Ciuca, file photo December 9, 2021. Inquam Photos
Romania has started exporting natural gas to Moldova, officials in both countries said.
Energy supplies from Romania hope to ease the pressures for Moldova which suffered a blackout during a missile attack from Russia in Ukraine last week.
Natural gas transport system operator Transgaz began pumping gas through the Iasi-Ungheni pipeline on December 3 at noon. No details were released about the volume.
It is the first time that the pipeline, which received investment from the European Union has been used and comes when Moldova’s energy system is under extreme pressure from Russia, which has been delivering only half of the contracted amounts since the beginning of November.
Romania is also delivering electricity to Moldova as missile attacks from Russia means that Ukraine can no longer deliver electricity to the small former Soviet republic of 2.5 million which lies between Romania and Ukraine.
Separately, Moldova’s natural gas company Moldovagaz will start buying gas from domestic supplier Energocom while continuing to buy it from Russia’s Gazprom, the head of Moldovagaz said late at the weekend, Reuters reported.
„Starting tomorrow, Moldovagaz will purchase natural gas from two sources: 5.7 million cubic meters will be supplied by Gazprom under the current contract and according to the approved volumes for December,” Vadim Ceban wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
Rusia a retras ameninţarea imediată de reducere a livrărilor de gaze către Republica Moldova