The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) became, starting with 25.08.2021, associated with a 25% participation in the natural gas transmission company Vestmoldtransgaz, the subsidiary of TRANSGAZ in the Republic of Moldova, owning and operating the natural gas transport Ungheni-Chisinau.

The EBRD thus completes a previous subscription agreement by which it undertook to increase the share capital of Vestmoldtransgaz by the amount of 20 million euros in order to finance the costs of developing the Ungheni-Chisinau gas pipeline.

Established in 2014, Vestmoldtransgaz provides natural gas transmission services in this country. In 2018, it was taken over by Eurotransgaz, a subsidiary of Transgaz, the company that operates the Romanian natural gas transmission system.

The Ungheni-Chisinau gas pipeline, with a length of 120 km, interconnects the gas transmission systems from Romania and the Republic of Moldova by connecting the Chisinau municipality to the Iași-Ungheni interconnection pipeline.

“The Ungheni-Chisinau gas pipeline is a strategic project for Romania, for the Republic of Moldova, for Transgaz and, now, for the EBRD,” said Ion Sterian, general manager of Transgaz. The partnership [with the EBRD] expresses the bank’s interest in supporting the company’s strategic investment program, in order to develop the interconnection of natural gas networks in the region, leading to improved security and security of supply and diversification of natural gas sources.

In the Republic of Moldova, the EBRD and the Transgaz subsidiary, Vestmoldtransgaz, collaborated in the Ungheni-Chisinau project on the environmental and social component.