As we announced yesterday, the Iasi-Ungheni pipeline has become operational. On Wednesday, the Republic of Moldova started to import natural gas from Romania through the Iasi-Ungheni pipeline that the two countries constructed with the financial backing of the European Union, the Moldovan Economy Ministry informs in a communiqué.
According to the contract signed in December 2014, throughout 2015 the Republic of Moldova will receive over a million cubic metres of natural gas, at a price of RON 1,010 per 1,000 cubic meters.
Valeriu Triboi, the Moldovan Deputy Economy Minister, stated in the aforementioned communiqué that natural gas imports from Romania represent an important step in the process of implementing the Moldovan government’s strategy on connecting to the European Union’s energy market, a strategy that offers the best solutions for the consolidation of the Moldovan state’s energy security.
According to Triboi, the Moldovan government considers that the Iasi-Ungheni pipeline is a project that has to be extended up to Chisinau, where approximately 60 per cent of Moldova’s natural gas consumers are located. This goal is achievable and economically attractive, the Moldovan minister underscored.
At the same time, Valeriu Triboi also emphasized that in the context of the regional situation the Moldovan government shows enhanced attention to ensuring state security on all levels, including the energy one. Romania can become the main link for the diversification of sources of natural gas supply and the consolidation of the Republic of Moldova’s electricity infrastructure interconnection with the EU market.
