HomeNewsMoldova Will No Longer Buy Gas from Russia's Gazprom

Moldova Will No Longer Buy Gas from Russia's Gazprom

10/2/2023

(Reuters) — Much of Moldova will no longer buy gas from Russian energy giant Gazprom, Moldovan Energy Minister Victor Parlicov said on Monday, referring to parts of the country that capital Chisinau controlled and not breakaway areas.

His comments suggested the country, one of Europe's poorest, had strengthened its independence from Russian gas. Chisinau-controlled Moldova, which comprises much of the country's territory and population, stopped buying gas from Gazprom in December 2022. It wasn't clear at the time how permanent the decision would be.

Parlicov said Moldova had been able to procure gas from European suppliers at a better price than Gazprom offered.

The country still buys electricity generated in a Transdniestrian power plant using Gazprom's gas. The minister gave no indication that this would change.

"We will no longer buy natural gas from Gazprom for territory controlled by the (Chisinau) constitutional authorities," Parlicov told a conference in Bucharest via video link.

State-owned Gazprom still supplies 5.7 million cubic meters of gas a day to Transdniestria, a Russia-backed enclave of Moldova, which violently separated from Chisinau's rule after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Moldova has repeatedly condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Bilateral ties are also strained by the presence of Russian peacekeeping troops in Transdniestria.

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