Neither Chisinau nor Tiraspol received official notifications from Gazprom as to an eventual reduction in the supplied amounts of natural gas, Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Spînu said after the Transnistrian leader Vadim Krasnoselsky on Monday announced that the volume of gas delivered to the Transnistrian region will be cut by 40% in November. Andrei Spînu called on the citizens to economize and said that if necessary Energocom will purchase gas from the international market, IPN reports.
Vadim Krasnoselsky on Monday said that Gazprom decided to cut the amount of gas supplied to the Transnistrian region by 40% in November. In a press release, it is said that the separatist leader noted the citizens remain their priority and the volume of gas needed by the large local enterprises will be therefore reduced.
“Neither those from the left side nor those from the right side of the Nistru received such information. I presume Tiraspol refers to the situation in which Gazprom will not reserve additional capacities for November, which is that quantity of 5.7 million cubic meters will be maintained for November too. Given that the weather grows colder in November and consumption increases, those 5.7 million cubic meters will be enough for a shorter period of time than in October,” Andrei Spînu stated in the talk show “In Depth” on ProTV Chisinau channel.
The official said the Moldovan constitutional authorities took into account such a scenario when they approved the plan for preparing for the cold season.
“First of all, we need to economize. By a public message, I called upon all the citizens to save electrical energy and natural gas. We will purchase gas from the international market and will supply the citizens with enough gas. Termoelectrica fully switched over to crude oil and no longer uses gas,” noted the Deputy Premier.
The official assured that even if the Kuchurgan power plant supplies less electricity, the country will not remain without power. The authorities hope they will be able to buy from Romania more electricity than it was agreed earlier.
“The power generation capacity in November will increase. Termoelectrica and the thermoelectric plant CET Nord will produce more electricity for the right bank. We are having discussions with counterparts from Romania to see if we can buy more power from Romania or from European markets. If things in Ukraine change and the production capacities are restored, we can also buy power from Ukraine,” stated Andrei Spînu.
Earlier, the Moldovan authorities announced that Moldova can purchase electrical energy from Romania at the price of 450 RON/MWh (approximately 90 EUR/MWh). The price is lower than on the market and the available amount can satisfy 30% of the country’s necessities after Ukraine stopped supplying an equivalent amount earlier this month.
