The European Union (EU) announced a EUR 30 million "targeted support to Moldova, including the Transnistrian region," to finance the purchase and transportation of natural gas for the region that is facing an acute energy crisis "provoked by Gazprom."

The targeted support will restore electricity and heat supply in the region and also enable the supply of electricity to the entire country, the EU's statement reads.

The EUR 30 million grant is designed as a short-term fix to secure the energy supply in Moldova, particularly Transnistria, until February 10. The size of the grant amounts to roughly half of the money Transnistria needs over a month to buy gas for basic needs (heating, electricity) without resuming industrial activity or electricity exports to Moldova.

"In the middle of winter, more than three hundred fifty thousand residents in the Transnistrian region are left in the dark and in the cold because Russia decided to stop its gas deliveries. We simply cannot accept that people on our continent do not have access to the most basic services. But hard times reveal true friends. That is why we are throwing today a lifeline. We will deliver gas to the people of Transnistria and restore their access to electricity and heating," EU president Ursula von der Leyen said.

Moldova's prime minister Dorin Recean announced that as part of the EU-backed support package to Moldova, 3 million cubic meters of natural gas would be sent immediately to Transnistria to maintain the pressure in the transport and distribution network and avoid accidents. 

A longer-term support plan will be designed by the European Commission with the authorities in Chisinau over the coming two weeks to consolidate Moldova's energy resilience. The elements of the plan are still to be established, but the coal from Ukraine and the transport of natural gas through the Trans-Balkan pipeline through Bulgaria and Romania were mentioned in the EC's statement.

iulian@romania-insider.com

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