Moscow, February 6. /Novosti Pridnestrovya/. Russia cannot help but care about Pridnestrovie, where 220 thousand Russian citizens live. This was stated during the latest briefing by the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova.
According to her, the Russian side has repeatedly proposed various options for resuming humanitarian gas supplies to the PMR, but all of them have been blocked by the Moldovan side.
"We are talking about the regime in Chisinau," explained Maria Zakharova. "They call it getting rid of energy blackmail from Russia. Everyone understands that the so-called European gas comes from Russian fields and is simply supplied to Pridnestrovie through European intermediaries. You can't write on it, it's gas."
The resumption of gas supplies to Pridnestrovie on February 1 cannot but rejoice, noted the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry.
"This allowed us to temporarily ease the situation, which is teetering on the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe due to the position of all those who associate themselves with the collective West. How long this will last is an open question. The Russian side is in favor of long-term, sustainable gas supplies to the region and is ready to facilitate this in every possible way," Maria Zakharova emphasized.
Recall that on January 1, due to the termination of Russian gas transit through Ukraine and the unsettled financial relations between PJSC Gazprom and JSC Moldovagaz, gas supplies to Pridnestrovie were interrupted.
As a result, gas supplies to villages and private residential buildings in cities, heat and hot water supplies to apartment buildings were terminated, and rolling blackouts were in effect. Due to the crisis in the energy sector, a state of emergency was declared in the PMR. It will remain in effect until at least March 10.
On January 15, President of the PMR Vadim Krasnoselsky announced that a solution to the energy crisis in Pridnestrovie had been found: Russia was ready to help organize gas supplies to the republic. The agreement was reached at the level of the Russian Ministry of Energy. However, the Moldovan authorities began to block the supply of blue fuel, each time citing various far-fetched reasons.
On January 27, the European Commission offered assistance in resolving the energy crisis in Pridnestrovie – a grant for the purchase of gas. Despite Chisinau’s attempts to interpret the EU aid in its own interests, the grant was still used for its intended purpose.
On February 1, gas supplies to Pridnestrovie were resumed until February 10. Negotiations on long-term stabilization of the situation are ongoing.
