For the Transnistrian region to be able to have a direct contract for the supply of gas with Russia’s gas giant Gazprom, a number of licenses for the transportation of natural gas are needed. It is not so easy to obtain national and international licenses, director of the National Agency for Energy Regulation (NAER) Octavian Calmîc stated when asked to comment on Tiraspol’s intention to establish a direct contractual relationship with Gazprom, IPN reports.

“The consumers from the right bank or those from the Republic of Moldova will not be directly affected. However, for something like this the Transnistrians need a series of licenses in the field because only licensed companies can transport natural gas or electrical energy. The process is not so simple,” Octavian Calmîc stated in a news conference.

The Transnistrian leader Vadim Krasnoselsky, in an interviewer for RIA Novosti, said Tiraspol does not deny the gas debt and is ready to analyze, together with Gazprom, the method of repaying this. For the purpose, they need a direct contractual relationship with Gazprom. Krasnoselsky noted he sent a letter to Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilița by which he announced his intention and asked for a license for being able to establish direct relations with Gazprom, but he didn’t receive an answer.

Recently, Tiraspoltransgaz asked NAER to issue it with a license for supplying natural gas. The Agency refused as the company is a transporter, not a supplier of natural gas.