The losses from the energy crisis in Transnistria could amount to tens of millions of dollars, Vitaly Ignatiev, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the unrecognized Transnistrian Moldavian Republic, said in an interview with RIA Novosti.
“Maintaining the special regime is a forced necessity“, he said.
The agency's interlocutor emphasized that the crisis has already dealt a blow to the republic's economy and added that currently industrial enterprises have stopped working.
After Ukraine banned the transit of Russian gas through its territory from January 1 this year, Moldova and Transnistria were left without natural gas. And if Chisinau receives energy resources from European countries, which affects prices for the population, then Tiraspol found itself in a complete gas blockade.
On February 1, the Moldovan Emergency Situations Commission approved the allocation of 20 million euros from the EU grant for the purchase of gas for Transnistria. Deliveries are planned until February 10. Moldovan state supplier Energocom on Saturday began buying natural gas on European exchanges to supply consumers in Transnistria. On the same day, the Moldovan state-owned power plant located in the troubled region resumed gas-fired electricity production, the ongoing power outages stopped, and since Sunday, heat has been supplied to residential buildings.
Meanwhile, Moldovan Prime Minister Dorin Recan said that the separatist Transnistrian Moldavian Republic (PMR) must meet certain conditions to avoid facing a potential new energy crisis with power, water and heating outages, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.
Recan reiterated the conditions set by the EU this week for the proposed additional grant of 60 million euros - mainly significantly better protection of human rights in the region and increases in heavily subsidized electricity, water and heating bills. The region's leaders did not comment on the conditions.
“Either they move on to the next stage of EU aid and for that they have to meet the conditions. Or, if they do not agree, they have to find a solution themselves. Unfortunately, there is a third scenario in which people are again left without electricity and water in the cold“, said the Moldovan prime minister.
Transnistria, which seceded from Moldova when the Soviet Union collapsed and fought a brief war with the newly independent state, has been accused by Chisinau and human rights groups of imprisoning dissidents and restricting press freedom.
The region's authorities have pledged to use a $165 million Russian loan for further gas purchases. Moldovan officials familiar with the deal said it would involve paying companies from the United Arab Emirates or Saudi Arabia to supply gas via Hungary to Moldova.
Under the first stage of the plan, now under way, 20 million euros of EU funds were used to buy gas for the region and 10 million euros to help government-controlled areas of Moldova buy electricity from European suppliers.
Most of the electricity for Moldova's government-controlled regions is produced by a thermal power plant in Transnistria, but authorities decided it was cheaper to buy it elsewhere.
The EU's gas rescue package has sparked a new debate about how the breakaway region can become part of Moldova again after more than 30 years of independence.
President Maia Sandu, who is spearheading Moldova's bid to join the EU, said during a meeting last night television interview that the reintegration plan would cost hundreds of millions of euros per year and Moldova would need external assistance to implement it.