Moldova will have to pay for Ukrainian transit
Moldova will conclude a separate agreement for the transit of Russian gas through the territory of Ukraine if Gazprom and Naftogaz do not agree on transit.
Chairman of the Board of Moldovagaz Vadim Cheban stated this in an interview with Newsmaker, PlitNavigator correspondent reports.
“If there is no transit through the territory of Ukraine, we are ready for another option: Gazprom will supply gas to Moldova to any entry point into the Ukrainian gas system, including on the border of Ukraine and Russia. And then Ukraine will transport gas to Moldova on the basis of an agreement between Moldova and Ukraine,” Cheban said.
He recalled that the southern regions of Ukraine, including the Odessa region, cannot receive gas bypassing Moldova.
“Another problem is related to the gas operator in Transnistria, Tiraspoltransgaz. Since this is our territory, we must decide who will sign this contract with Ukraine from Transnistria. It would be logical for Moldovagaz, along with the operators of the gas transportation system of the two countries, to sign a contract that covers both the right and left banks,” Ceban said.
The Russian Gazprom previously stated that Moldovagaz’s debt for 2018 reached 431,66 billion rubles. Most of the debt (more than 90%) falls on Transnistria.
Moldova has repeatedly proposed transferring the Transnistrian part of the debt to the Transnistrian gas transport operator Tiraspoltransgaz LLC, but Gazprom prefers to keep the debt for Moldova, since official Chisinau insists that the PMR is Moldovan territory and denies the republic recognition of independence.
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