22 March 2023

them citizens of Moldova. They will not go to Moscow or Ukraine, we will also have to take care of them,” the official added. In October 2021, the Moldovan national energy company, Moldovagas signed a five-year contract with Gazprom. The contract was signed with the Russian company for the supply of 3.3 billion cubic meters of gas annually. Of this volume, 1.1 bcm was designated for Moldova and the other 2.2 bcm for Transnistria. In October, Gazprom slashed gas supplies to the eastern European country by 30 percent, to 5.7 million cubic meters, despite Moldova’s daily demand of 8.06 million cubic meters. Gazprom cited technical issues in gas transit through Ukraine as the reason for slashed supplies. Moscow sends all gas supplies to the left bank of the Dniester and buys electricity from a local power plant at $73 per kWh, which is cheaper than the electricity it gets from Romania at $95 per kWh. ■