Gas supply via Iasi-Ungheni pipeline to Moldova delayed until October

Newsroom 22/09/2014 | 18:07

Natural gas supply from Romania to Moldova by the Iasi-Ungheni pipeline built with EU assistance has been postponed until October, Prime Minister Iurie Leanca said on Monday, quoted by Itar-tass.

He said the delay had been caused by the government’s failure to coordinate the terms of gas purchases from Romania with Moldovagaz, a Russian-Moldovan joint venture and the main supplier of gas to the country.

“The Iassy-Ungheni gas pipeline will become operational later than expected. The government hopes it will start transporting Romanian gas in October, and by that time we are planning to work out a settlement formula with Moldovagaz for the Romanian gas that will come in small amounts,” Leanca said.

Gazprom is the main shareholder of Moldovagaz.

Romgaz representatives confirmed that negotiations are ongoing.

“We haven’t set the prices yet, because negotiations are not over. Romgaz is open to collaboration and we expect their point of view on the offers we made. By the time, there have been no gas deliveries to Republic Moldova”, the representatives confirmed for Romania Libera.

The pipeline has a limited capacity and can only supply gas to one district of Moldova. Last week, Romania warned Moldova that it would not be able to supply natural gas to it in the event of emergencies in winter.