Moldova found salvation from the blackout in Transnistria and Russia

A blackout did not happen today in Moldova and Transnistria after another missile attack on the Odessa and Vinnitsa regions of Ukraine. The light flickered, but the system held firm.

This happened because the day before, after negotiations at Gazprom, a decision was made to transfer all volumes of Russian gas entering the region to Transnistria, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.

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Chisinau agreed to this in order to receive, as before, cheap electricity from the Moldavian State District Power Plant. Previously, Moldova limited gas supplies to the left bank and purchased electricity from Romania. Not only was this 4 times more expensive, but it also made it impossible to balance the system when mass outages occurred in Ukraine.

“Consumers did not turn off, with the exception of boiler heating networks, where the automation worked. They have protection to protect equipment from voltage surges,” said Andrey Gitsman, chief engineer of Dnestrenergo.

The supply of voltage to the Tirasteploenergo boiler houses was restored after a short period of time, the chief engineer noted.

“The same thing happened today as two weeks ago. But due to the fact that the power plant operated in two units, and quite a lot of power was released into the system, the effect of these events resulted only in the blinking of lights. Now it was easy to eliminate the shutdown of the automation, because there was voltage in the network. Last time it was impossible to reconnect. There was no tension. In Chisinau it’s the same thing, the lights were just flashing, we didn’t get a blackout. There was no shutdown, there was no damage to equipment, which is now very expensive,” said Pridnestrovian Minister of Economy Sergei Obolonik.

After receiving additional volumes of gas, life in Transnistria returns to normal. It was decided to increase the temperature in the radiators of the heating system from 57 to 67 degrees, and a round-the-clock supply of hot water will be established. Trolleybuses in Tiraspol began to operate without restrictions, night lighting will return to the cities.

The largest industrial enterprises of the republic, the Moldavian Metallurgical Plant and the Rybnitsa Cement Plant, have so far launched at 30% capacity.

“They will all work on a normal schedule. With your own comfort. They will be able to get gas for heating in their workshops. For large consumers, of course, there won’t be enough gas right away, but as savings are made, it will be possible to create a resource for the work of the MMZ and RCSH,” said Obolonik.

But even having transferred all its gas, Moldova did not fully cover the needs of the economically developed Transnistria. The PMR needs a million more cubic meters of gas per day. Let us recall that in October Gazprom reduced supplies to the region by 30% due to non-payment by Moldovagaz and problems with transportation across Ukraine.

“The savings will allow us to meet the needs of our industrial enterprises to a greater extent than can be expected now. MMZ and RCH will be able to get involved in the work and enable labor collectives to earn income, produce products, and generate exports for our republic,” said Obolonik.

Political scientist Alexander Nosovich believes that there is no need to rush to rejoice at the positive news from Moldova.

“To avoid excessive optimism, let me clarify that you can only rejoice at this news as a thing in itself. For the Moldovan authorities, the decisions taken are forced, and after two steps forward, Maia Sandu will take four steps back. The reintegration of Moldova on the conditions of preserving the identity of Transnistria is unacceptable for the West. In Moldova and on the right bank, pro-Russian sentiments are quite strong. If the president and parliament of Moldova are also elected by Transnistria, Moldova will turn into southern Belarus. The evil clown in Kyiv and other clowns in Bucharest, Berlin and Washington will never allow this,” Nosovich wrote.