EU suggests Moldova should develop ties with gas providers both from East, Western Europe

Chisinau, 28 September /MOLDPRES/ - Representatives of the European Commission’s Directorate General for Energy have said that the formula which can provide an increased degree of security in the supply with natural gas of Moldova’s consumers consists in the development of commercial relations with both suppliers from the East and the Western Europe. The state secretary in the economic sector, Vitalie Iurcu, made statements to this effect at a meeting with European officials in Brussels.   

In the context, Vitalie Iurcu said that Moldova made efforts to boost activities aimed at developing the option of inverting the flow of gas on the system of Trans-Balkan main gas pipelines and asked for European Commission’s further active support in discussions held on this topic.

Also, the state secretary referred to a project on extending the inter-connector Iasi-Ungheni towards Chisinau, especially the completion of the transaction of sale and purchase of the state enterprise Vestmoldtransgaz. The officials welcomed the dialogue held by the national authorities with the Ukrainian and Russian counterparts, implicitly the players on the eastern market of natural gas, according to a press release by the Economics and Infrastructure Ministry.

At the same time, the interlocutors encouraged the Moldovan authorities to advance the implementation of the project on electric energy interconnection with Romania, implicitly the network of the continental Europe ENTSO-E (European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity) through the construction of the line Isaccea-Vulcanesti-Chisinau. The EU officials hailed the recent ratification of the agreements on loan signed with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and European Investment Bank.   

The European officials also said that the Moldovan authorities can further rely on the support of EU institutions, Energy Community Secretariat, including on the support and expertise mobilized by them through a lot of platforms, initiatives and projects of technical assistance made available to Moldova’s authorities for the benefit of the citizens and end consumers of energy.

At the meeting, the sides brought for discussion the subject on Moldova’s energy security, in terms of the developments recorded by the Moldovan authorities concerning the transposition of the European legislation in the field, advancement in the implementation of the Third Energy Package, energy infrastructure projects, both in the sector of transportation of gas and of electric energy.  

(Reporter V. Bercu, editor L. Alcaza)