Tiraspol, December 8. /Novosti Pridnestrovya/. At the meeting of the President of the PMR Vadim Krasnoselsky with the Ambassador of the Russian Federation to the Republic of Moldova Oleg Vasnetsov, the topic of overcoming the energy crisis was raised. The head of the Pridnestrovian state called the events of the past week an important step on this path, expressing gratitude to everyone who participated in reaching an agreement, according to the Pridnestrovian President`s website.
Oleg Vasnetsov noted that the current situation “is in the focus of attention of the top political leadership of the Russian Federation”, which is confirmed by the discussion of issues related to the state of affairs in Pridnestrovie during the meeting of the Council for the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights held by the President of the Russian Federation the day before.
Recall that since October 1, the Russian Gazprom has limited the supply of natural gas to Moldova and Pridnestrovie to 5.7 million cubic meters per day. This happened due to a violation of obligations on the part of Moldova: Moldovagaz JSC, which is a party to the Moldovan-Russian gas contract, at that time allowed violations of the payment schedule for the blue fuel received and did not audit Moldova's historical debt for gas within the required time frame. Pridnestrovie turned out to be a hostage in the situation.
The result of the reduction in Russian gas supplies was the shortage of blue fuel in both Moldova and Pridnestrovie. It was dramatically marked by the third decade of October. Pridnestrovie has already resorted to austerity measures since the beginning of October, while on October 21 introduced a state of emergency and postponed the start of the heating season for several days. Moldavskaya GRES was forced to reduce the supply of electricity for export to Moldova.
On November 1, a new round of the gas crisis began for the PMR. JSC Moldovagaz unilaterally limited the volume of blue fuel going to Pridnestrovie by 40% from 3.9 to 2.3 million cubic meters per day. The Moldovan side was not embarrassed by the fact that such a decision runs counter to the terms of the Moldovan-Russian contract, where the volumes of gas for the Republic of Moldova and the PMR are fixed.
As a result, the signing of another contract for the supply of electricity from the Moldavskaya GRES to Moldova was disrupted. The Republic of Moldova started to buy electricity in Romania, and today it is about three times more expensive than the Pridnestrovian one. Because of this, electricity tariffs for household consumers were rising in the neighboring country.
The volume of gas that was taken away by Moldova from Pridnestrovie in November reached a total of almost 50 million cubic meters. In Tiraspol, already in early November, they expressed the opinion that this gas, among other things, could be pumped by the authorities of the Republic of Moldova into Ukrainian gas storage facilities.
On November 22, Gazprom reported that it was also recording Russian gas settling in Ukraine. NJSC Naftogaz, in response, noted that part of the blue fuel intended for Moldova and Pridnestrovie remains in Ukraine through a virtual reverse, which is carried out by the Moldovan authorities.
There is a version that gas can also be resold to Ukraine at market prices (at the same time, the re-export of blue fuel is prohibited by the contract between JSC Moldovagaz and Gazprom).
Pridnestrovie addressed the leadership of Russia and PJSC Gazprom with letters in which it outlined the situation with the illegal selection of blue fuel. The delegation of the Supreme Council of the PMR, headed by speaker Alexander Korshunov, visited Moscow, where they held meetings in the State Duma, the Federation Council, and the Government of the Russian Federation.
Pridnestrovie needs at least 100 million cubic meters of natural gas per month for its own needs (this figure will increase further in December due to falling temperatures). In November, the republic only received 69 million. This led to the fact that the large industrial enterprises` work was suspended, the autumn holidays at schools were extended for a week, an hourly schedule for supplying hot water was introduced, and the temperature of the coolant in residential buildings was reduced.
On December 3, Energocom (RM) signed an agreement with Moldavskaya GRES on the supply of electricity for December of this year (204,000 MW). Moldovagaz will supply 5.7 million m3 of gas per day to Pridnestrovie, including for MGRES to generate electricity.
