“According to the separatist leader, the exact date when Gazprom will resume supplies is still unknown”, — write: www.radiosvoboda.org
Krasnoselskyi said that Russia will “soon” restore gas supplies to the left bank of the Dniester in the form of “humanitarian aid.” The volumes will be sufficient only for the needs of the region, and not for the production of electricity for the right bank, the Moldovan service of Radio Liberty writes.
“Gas will be supplied in the form of humanitarian aid for heat and power generating enterprises in the region, as well as industrial enterprises,” says Krasnoselskyi.
According to the separatist leader, the exact date when Gazprom will resume supplies is still unknown, as well as the supply route, which will be determined after “further negotiations.” Krasnoselskyi also refused to clarify who will pay for gas transit. He added that the negotiations are taking place at the “joint initiative” of Russia and the Transnistrian region.
The leader of the separatist Transnistrian region of Moldova, Vadym Krasnoselskyi, left for Moscow via Istanbul in the morning of January 14, he took off from Chisinau airport.
Moldovan President Maia Sandu said on January 14 that the goal of the “humanitarian crisis caused by the Kremlin” on the left bank of the Dniester is to inflame the “political crisis” on the right bank and exacerbate the situation in the Republic of Moldova.
When asked to comment on the departure of Tiraspol leader Vadym Krasnoselskyi to Moscow, Sandu said that “this is another proof that Chisinau is not an obstacle to finding a solution.”
On January 1, Russian Gazprom unilaterally stopped supplying natural gas to the Transnistrian region. This happened after Ukraine stopped the transit of Russian gas through its territory. To compensate for the deficit, Chisinau now buys electricity from Romania
The separatist authorities in Tiraspol say that the Transnistrian region is facing a humanitarian crisis after the cessation of Russian supplies, and that they will have enough gas reserves until the end of January. To reduce the load on the power grid, the administration resorts to fan shutdowns for several hours a day.
Transnistria is a separatist region of Moldova that has not been under the control of Chisinau since 1992. Russia has been keeping about 1,700 troops in Transnistria for over 20 years.