At the moment, there are several options for the development of the situation with natural gas supplies to Pridnestrovie, and it is very important which position the Russian side will take. This was stated by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the unrecognized republic Vitaly Ignatiev on the First Pridnestrovian TV channel.
He stressed that the destructive measures undertaken by Chisinau, related to the reduction of the supply of Russian gas to the region, also affect the citizens of the Russian Federation living here, who number around 220,000.
“We are working to prevent critical scenarios and to ensure that the situation does not get worse. Pridnestrovie proposed a combination of methods and mechanisms that will minimize social, humanitarian and energy costs. With these detailed proposals, our team went to Moscow.” Ignatiev noted.
According to the head of the foreign policy department, the dialogue between Pridnestrovie and Moldova on energy issues has led to nothing since the beginning of November. He added that, in general, the climate of trust between the parties has been destroyed.
“Strategically, Moldova has never changed its approach. Throughout its post-Soviet independence period, it fought against the inhabitants of Transnistria, because they are the ones who suffer from the restrictions imposed by Chisinau. The authorities of the Republic of Moldova do not see in the inhabitants of Pridnestrovie people whose interests and rights they are ready to respect”, Vitaly Ignatiev concluded.
Since the beginning of the month, the Republic of Moldova has been receiving 5.7 million cubic meters of Russian gas per day, which is 51% of the volumes agreed with Gazprom under the contract. As a result, there was a shortage of energy resources on both banks of the Dniester. Chisinau has decided to improve its energy affairs at the expense of Transnistria, reducing gasification of the Rive Gauche by 40%. Moldovagaz said they “decide for themselves who and how much gas to distribute”. In turn, the authorities added that the population of the Rive Gauche is only 15% of the population of the Republic of Moldova, and given that the Moldavskaya GRES located there has ceased to generate electricity for Moldova (the Republic of Moldova has completely passed to Romanian electricity), the gas received from Pridnestrovie should be enough for them.
President of the PMR Vadim Krasnoselsky then he said that with these actions the leadership of Moldova pursues several goals. The first is to organize instability and cause unrest in the region, the second is to blackmail Russia with the deteriorating economic situation in Transnistria, where a state of emergency has been introduced.
Last week, the Pridnestrovian delegation headed by the chairman of the Supreme Council (Parliament) of the PMR Alexander Korshunov went to the Russian capital with a developed package of measures on how to get gas so that Chisinau does not take it away.
As reported EADailythat the problem that has arisen in the energy field between Tiraspol and Chisinau “poisons the will to go forward”, Vadim Krasnoselsky said recently in a meeting with the head of the OSCE Mission to Moldova Kelly Kaiderling. He asked the diplomat that the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe also investigate energy issues and contribute his influence to their solution.
