Russia helps Transnistria by not asking for gas debt

Transnistria is assisted by the Russians not only by money transfers to the people, but also by not penalizing the self-styled state, which can't afford paying its debts for natural gas, Info-Prim Neo quotes Novy Region agency as reporting. According to Mikhail Burla, the chairman of the economy committee of the Transnistrian parliament, the area buys the Russian gas at $317 per 1 cubic meter, but the population pays only $67. “The difference is to be borne by the state, representing a debt to Gazprom,” said Burla. He says the Transnistrian area got a loan of $250 million from Russia, an amount exceeding the budget incomes of the breakaway state. The Tiraspol parliamentarian opines the gas tariff should be adjusted to the purchasing price when the economic crisis is over.