Moldovan experts, on visit to left bank of Dniester, says industrial, energy facilities work as normal

The industrial facilities producing electricity and those delivering natural gas, thermal energy and electricity and managing the concerned networks in the eastern districts of Moldova work as normal, supplying the protected consumers. The conclusions were established by Chisinau-based experts, who visited several industrial and energy facilities on the left bank of Dniester on 3 and 4 February.

According to the Reintegration Policies Bureau, representatives from the Ministry of Energy, Energocom stock company, Moldelectrica state enterprise and Ltd Company Vestmoldtransgaz paid working visits to the cities of Rabnita, Tiraspol, and Dnestrovsk. The experts visited the Moldovan Metallurgical Plant stock company and Cement Plant JLtd in Rabnita. In Tiraspol, the specialists visited Ltd company Tiraspoltransgaz, the Brick Factory, the Technopark company, and the Tirotex-Energo Thermal Power Plant, as well as the Thermal Power Plant located in Dnestrovsk.

“Following the visit by the energy sector experts, it was found that all visited industrial facilities are enforcing the order of the Commission for Emergency Situations (CSE) from February 1, this year, with no deviations found in this regard,” said the Reintegration Policies Bureau.

According to the provisions of the CSE order, with support provided by the European Union, Energocom is purchasing natural gas only for the categories of protected consumers, including households, medical units, social centers, educational institutions and power plants.

Over the last three days, Energocom delivered over 5.7 million cubic meters of natural gas to the national gas network, according to requests from “Tiraspoltransgaz.” The gas intended for the Transnistrian region was purchased from exchanges in Romania and Bulgaria, transported via the Trans-Balkan corridor and the Iasi-Ungheni gas pipeline. Thus, on February 1st, 450 thousand cubic meters of natural gas was delivered, on February 2 - 2.7 million cubic meters, and on February 3 - 2.575 million cubic meters.

The European Union has provided Moldova with a grant of 30 million euros for the procurement of energy resources necessary for both consumers on the left bank of Dniester and the ones on the right bank. More specifically, this includes gas worth 20 million euros for the left bank and electricity worth 10 million euros for consumers on the right bank.

According to the CSE decision, Energocom will purchase natural gas worth 20 million euros from authorized trading platforms in the European Union and Ukraine, under market conditions. Subsequently, Energocom will ensure the transmission of natural gas based on a delivery schedule agreed upon with Tiraspoltransgaz, in energy units, not exceeding a daily value of 3 million cubic meters, equivalent in MWh.

Today, European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos announced in Chisinau that the EU was willing to allocate 60 million euros, in order to cover the energy needs of the Transnistrian region till mid-April 2025, but Tiraspol would have to meet several conditions to benefit from this financial support.

The first condition refers to concrete actions on the observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the region. These would need to be agreed upon with the government of Moldova before the assistance is used. At the same time, Tiraspol is to submit an agreed plan to gradually update energy tariffs to market prices for consumers of the region. Meanwhile, large exporting companies will have to pay market prices for energy. Another condition is to exclude industrial consumers with high energy consumption from the support package.

Starting from January 1, 2025, the Russian giant Gazprom unjustifiably suspended the supply of natural gas to Moldovagaz, even though there is a valid contract until 2026, leaving consumers in the Transnistrian region without natural gas and, consequently, without heating and hot water.