Moldova announced that it is stepping up negotiations with Ukraine on the prospect of receiving gas from the Ukrainian transport system to avoid possible interruptions in winter delivery, if Russia and Ukraine do not reach a new gas transit agreement until December 31, 2019. The announcement was made by the Government press service, according to Noi.md.

Currently, Moldova receives almost 3 billion cubic meters of gas per year (almost 99 percent of its consumption) from Russia, through the trans-Balkan corridor, through Ukraine. It was planned that Moldova could reduce its dependence on Russian gas using the Romania-Moldova interconnector with a capacity of 1.5 billion cubic meters of gas per year, a pipeline that was to be built by December, but it will be delayed at least until mid-2020. At a hearing organized by the European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs last week, Prime Minister Maia Sandu confirmed that she is examining the possibility of receiving gas from Ukraine. Therefore, the operators of gas transmission systems in the two countries – Ukrtransgaz and Moldovatransgaz – negotiate an agreement that will include the winter of 2019/2020 and will last until the completion of the Romania-Moldova interconnector.