The Transnistrian administration pleads for keeping the old model of relations with the Russian Federation in the energy sector, the leader of Transnistria Vadim Krasnoselski stated in a meeting with the vice president of the gas company Gazprom Valery Golubev, IPN reports.

According to the local press, Vadim Krasnoselski said that as regards the mechanism and system in general, he pleads for the old ones given that there is no new mechanism now. Before speaking about a possible reformation, there should be a very clear new model.

The Transnistrian leader noted that the Russian Federation has felt the sanctions imposed by the European Union for three years, while Transnistria hasn’t been recognized for 26 years and has to cope with different economic restrictions. “We are hostage to a geopolitical catastrophe - destruction of the Soviet Union – and we remain in the same conditions,” stated Vadim Krasnoselski.

He also said that in such conditions it is very important to ensure political and energy stability in the region. “As a President, I’m interested in seeing Transnistria independent from energy viewpoint. This is the main principle. The rest are technical matters,” said the Transnistrian leader.

According to him, it is inacceptable to depend on neighbors, not because someone is good or bad, but because things change. He gave the example of Ukraine, where there is an armed conflict about which nobody thought three years ago.

Vadim Krasnoselski noted that about 213,000 Russian citizens live in the region and the Transnistrian population in a referendum earlier voted for independence, with subsequent entry into the Russian Federation. “I said not only once and I will repeat: the friends and enemies as well consider Transnistria a part of the Russian Federation. This is so. We have the same faith, the same morality and values. Therefore, the attitude of the Russian Federation to Transnistria should be appropriate, as to a part of Russia. When we build the energy model, we must understand this,” he stated.