The Republic of Moldova will receive gas through Bulgaria’s pipeline system
Bulgaria and the Republic of Moldova signed a cooperation agreement for the access and transport of natural gas through the management system of the Bulgartransgaz companies, informs the BTA agency, taken over by Agerpres.
The document was signed on Thursday in Chisinau by Vladimir Malinov, the director of the state operator Bulgartransgaz, and the general director of the public gas supplier Energocom, Vadim Bînzari, at the end of the meeting between the president of Bulgaria, Rumen Radev, and his Moldovan counterpart, Maia Sandu.
In this way, the Republic of Moldova will connect a natural gas transport connection to other networks in Central and South-Eastern Europe, said Maia Sandu. The President of the Republic of Moldova showed that energy resources are used as a weapon against the Republic of Moldova and its young democracy. She pointed out that the country is facing the worst energy crisis since independence and therefore welcomed the agreement regarding the access and transportation of natural gas through the management system of Bulgartransgaz companies.
For his part, Bulgarian President Rumen Radev emphasized that Bulgaria and the Republic of Moldova can respond to the challenges they face through bilateral collaboration. According to Radev, Bulgaria has already achieved significant success in diversifying gas supply sources, mainly through the construction of interconnectors with neighboring countries and the acquisition of stakes in liquefied natural gas terminals.
“Now we can select our suppliers from all over the world based on price and security of supply. On the other hand, we have managed Trans-Balkan, which a few years ago transported natural gas from north to south, via the Republic of Moldova. Now, by using the reverse system, we can supply gas from the south to the north”, emphasized Radev.
The Bulgarian head of state also said that electricity supply is an important topic for the Republic of Moldova and in this context he understands the concerns of President Maia Sandu regarding all aspects related to energy.
Bulgaria, for its part, is a victim of Vladimir Putin’s policy of using gas as a weapon, with more than 90% of the natural gas imported by Bulgaria coming from Russia. On April 27, Gazprom stopped natural gas deliveries to Poland and Bulgaria, in the absence of payments in rubles from the two countries for fuel delivery. At the end of August, with the change of government in Sofia, Bulgaria resumed negotiations with the Russian state company Gazprom to return to a contract that would solve the problem of natural gas supply.
Meanwhile, on October 1, Bulgaria inaugurated the interconnector with Greece. “The interconnector could cover all of Bulgaria’s gas consumption, and that is very good news in these very difficult times. Today a new era begins for Bulgaria and South-Eastern Europe”, said the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. Romanian officials also participated in the inauguration of the pipeline, Bucharest being interested, for its part, in the transport of gas through this route.