Bulgaria Ready to Assist Moldova with Gas Supplies if Russia Halts Deliveries

Bulgaria is ready to help Moldova if Russia cuts off gas supplies from 1 January, Energy Minister Vladimir Malinov said when asked by BNR. He reminded that about a month ago, the two countries signed a document on crisis response:

‘We are in constant communication with the Moldovan energy minister, so they are also counting on us. We are ready to support them with secure access both for LNG and through the state-owned Bulgargaz when they ask for this assistance.’

‘Gazprombank is on the US sanctions list because of Russia's war against Ukraine.

Until 20 March next year, it is allowed to deviate from payments for the transit of natural gas through Bulgaria by Turkish Stream, Malinov said.

However, he did not answer the BNR's question whether transit through Bulgarian territory could stop on 21 March if a way to pay transit fees is not found by then.

Moldova receives gas from Russia under a contract that runs until the end of October 2026.

However, on 28 December, Russia's Gazprom announced that on 1 January 2025 at 08:00 Moscow time it would ‘limit’ gas supplies to Moldova, allegedly due to ‘failure to fulfil payment obligations’. 

Moldovagaz's acting CEO Vadim Cheban said the company had ‘taken note’ of Gazprom's decision and reminded that since December 2022, all gas supplied from Russia had been transferred to the Transnistrian region. 

‘At the same time, natural gas for consumers on the right bank of the Dniester was purchased on regional and European markets. It should be emphasised that Moldovagaz has contracted the necessary volumes of gas to fully cover all consumption on the Right Bank by the end of March 2025,’ Cheban said.

Despite the contract being in force until 2026, since autumn 2022, Gazprom has limited gas supplies to 5.7 million cubic metres per day, which is significantly less than Moldova's winter consumption. As a result, since the end of 2022, all Russian gas has been sent to Transnistria, where it is used to generate electricity at the Moldovan SDPP, and the remaining part is used for domestic needs.

As The Gaze previously reported, Ukraine does not intend to extend the contract for the transit of Russian gas to European countries, which expires on 1 January 2025. In turn, the EU has stated that it is ready to stop the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine.

‘The cessation of the flow (of gas) through Ukraine from 1 January is an expected event, and the EU is ready for it,’ the European Commission spokesperson said in a statement. 

The spokesperson reminded that the European Commission, in coordination with member states, had been working for more than a year to prepare a scenario in which no Russian gas would flow through Ukraine from 1 January 2025, as well as to provide alternative gas supply routes for EU members that may be affected by such an interruption of transit.