The ghost gas pipeline will not save Moldova from Gazprom’s dependence
Work on laying the Ungheni – Chisinau gas pipeline is in full swing. The gas pipeline should provide an alternative fuel supply to the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine, which is still in question.
The Ministry of Economy and Infrastructure of Moldova reported this on its Facebook page, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“This is a strategic project that we are working on together with Romania to provide an important source of energy to citizens and strengthen regional energy security,” it said.
True, Moldovan journalists tend to critically evaluate such information. In 2013, the Romanian authorities solemnly reported on the start of construction of the Romanian part of this Iasi-Ungheni gas pipeline, but it turned out that after the television filming, all materials were removed and no work was carried out.
In 2014, the gas pipeline was opened with fanfare, but recently the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Moldova, Nicu Popescu, said that work on the construction of this gas pipeline is being carried out in seven sections simultaneously, and gas pipes will soon be delivered to construction sites. It’s unclear why build something that has already been completed.
Another Moldovan Minister of Economy, Vadim Brynzan, said that work on the construction of the Ungheni-Chisinau gas pipeline will be 90% ready by the end of this year, although previously the country's President Igor Dodon stated that the facility would not be completed until 2021.
Apparently realizing that the ghost gas pipeline could bring surprises, Vadim Brynzan said that, just in case, he was negotiating gas in three other directions: with Gazprom, with Ukraine - regarding the reverse of Russian gas from Europe, with Bulgaria - regarding "Turkish Stream".
“We want to stock up on Ukrainian gas so that we have gas reserves in the winter in case something goes wrong with Gazprom,” Brynzan said.
In all this confusion, the most difficult situation is in Transnistria, which borders only Ukraine and Moldova. Both countries can turn off the valve to the unrecognized republic.
“From January 1, 2020, Russia may stop transit through Ukraine. Romania, in preparation for this, is urgently drawing a gas pipeline to the Turkish Stream. The pipe will be extended from Romania to Moldova.
But whether it will reach the left bank of the Dniester is a question. And if it comes, it will be through Moldova. And Chisinau will talk to Tiraspol with its hand on the gas valve,” writes the Russian Nezavisimaya Gazeta.
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