The Presidency of the Council of the EU could be used as constructive leverage for stimulating the construction of the Ungheni-Chisinau section so that the gas pipeline could be put into operation in the first half of 2019 already, political pundit Dionis Cenusa says in an analysis article for IPN Agency.

According to the expert, the involvement of the Romanian company Transgaz, which is over 50% owned by the Romanian state, in the implementation of this energy project increases the chances for this to become functional, on condition that all the legal or technical barriers are eliminated.

The finishing of the gas pipeline is not threatened by the eventual coming of the Socialists to power given the support shown by President Igor Dodon for this project.

The access to the gas market of Romania will liberalize the natural gas market of Moldova, will enable to review the contract with Gazprom and to stop the augmentation of the debts for Russian gas that are accumulated by the Transnistrian region, explained the politologist.

However, besides the completion of the construction of the gas pipeline, effective de-monopolization of the market is needed.

The implementation of the Third Energy Package and, respectively, the clear separation of the production activity from the supply one, on the one hand, will lead to the elimination of the dominant position of Gazprom (exerted through Moldovagaz). On the other hand, this will enable European companies to exploit the pipeline and to supply gas to Moldova.

Through the agency of Transgaz, Romania, together with the Moldovan authorities, can develop the idea of supplying gas to Ukraine.

In such a case, the Iasi-Ungheni-Chisinau gas pipeline would gain regional strategic importance and would become an additional interconnection source, besides the Tekovo-Mediesul Aurit pipeline that is not yet functional. Given that Russia was given the go-ahead to build the Turkish Stream and in the near future will be also get the go-ahead for the Nord Stream 2, any new supply of natural gas from the West will represent an advantage for the energy security of Ukraine.

the energy interconnection within the Eastern Partnership can be one of the main aspects of the Romanian Presidency, which combines the particular interest in the Iasi-Ungheni-Chisinau pipeline and in Moldova, concluded Dionis Cenusa.