“According to the CSE's decision, the Energocom stock company will purchase natural gas, amounting to 20 million euros, from authorized trading platforms in the European Union and Ukraine, under market conditions. Subsequently, the Energocom company will ensure the transmission of natural gas, based on a delivery schedule agreed with Tiraspoltransgaz Ltd company, in energy units, not exceeding a daily value of 3 million cubic meters, equivalent in MWh,” the document reads.
€20 million ($20.5 million) will be used to purchase gas for the left bank territories through Energocom on European and Ukrainian exchanges. This gas will be supplied by Energocom to Tiraspolgaz in Transnistria, but not more than 3 million cubic meters per day.
€10 million ($10.2 million) will be used to purchase electricity for the right bank of the Dniester. Imports of gas and electricity, as well as their transportation, will be exempt from VAT. The supply of energy resources on the left bank will be directed exclusively to households, hospitals, schools and power plants.
The decision was part of the EU's broader financial support: the total amount of assistance to Moldova for energy security is €64 million ($65.5 million), of which €34 million ($34.8 million) is provided as direct budgetary assistance to the government.
Earlier it was reported that on Jan. 1, 2025, the transit agreement between Gazprom and Naftogaz expired, and Ukraine stopped the transit of Russian gas through its territory. Transportation of Russian gas was stopped from the entry point of Sudzha on Ukraine's eastern border to the exit points on the country's western and southern borders.
After Ukraine stopped transiting Russian gas, centralized heating and hot water supply were turned off in Transnistria due to the lack of gas supplies.
All industrial enterprises in unrecognized Transnistria stopped working due to the lack of energy.
Moldovan government spokesman Daniel Vodă said that Russia has left residents of Transnistria without heating and is trying to put pressure on the country through Gazprom.
Transnistrian separatists are demanding that Moldova pay for Russian gas supplies to the unrecognized republic. The head of the unrecognized Transnistrian Moldovan Republic, Vadim Krasnoselsky, said that Moldova is allegedly trying to shift the $709 million debt to Gazprom to Transnistria.
Moldova found a source of electricity and avoided a blackout. In addition, Moldova offered unrecognized Transnistria assistance in purchasing gas.
However, Transnistria refused Moldova's assistance in gas supplies. Now, rolling blackouts have been introduced there.
The authorities of self-proclaimed Transnistria declared that the region will have enough gas for another 24 days. Previously, it was reported that gas would last until Jan. 10 in the north of the region and until Jan. 20 in the south. The changes in the calculations were explained by the fact that they were initially based on the figures obtained during the 2009 energy crisis.
The foreign ministers of Sweden, Norway, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Lithuania, Latvia and Denmark (the Nordic-Baltic Eight, NB8) issued a joint statement in connection with the termination of gas supplies to Moldova by Russian Gazprom on Jan. 1, 2025.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had a phone conversation with Moldovan President Maia Sandu and said that Ukraine is ready to help Moldova overcome the period of energy challenges.
Sandu, for her part, said that the Russian company Gazprom is deliberately creating an energy crisis in unrecognized Transnistria, despite Moldova's gas supply contract.
NV Business wrote that Transnistria is freezing for the sake of a picture and this has become part of Russian propaganda against Ukraine.
The Moldovan government will lend 3 million cubic meters of gas to Transnistria. The costs will be covered by an EU grant.
Tiraspol has agreed to borrow 3 million cubic meters of gas from Moldova.
At the same time, Transnistria expects Russia to provide a loan to pay for gas from Europe.