Transnistria Rejects EU’s €60 Million Energy Aid, Moldovan PM Claims

The authorities of Transnistria have rejected the EU’s energy aid and a €60 million grant, Moldovan Prime Minister Dorin Recean stated on February 10.

“In the medium term, the EU offer of €60 million was a solution to rid the Transnistrian region of blackmail and energy instability. Tiraspol refused this solution. Russia does not allow them to accept European aid, for fear of losing control over the region,” Recean wrote on his Facebook account.

“The basic condition rejected by Tiraspol was the gradual increase of tariffs for consumers. Therefore, they cannot receive money from the European aid of €60 million,” he added.

At the same time, the Moldovan PM assured that the region would not be left without gas. Supplies will be provided by the Hungarian company MET Gas and Energy Marketing AG, a natural gas trader on the European market, with payments covered by the Dubai-based company JNX General Trading LLC.

Recean assured that the Moldovan authorities will not obstruct the transit of this gas. In return, Tiraspol must release political prisoners, resolve issues related to the lyceum in Rîbnița, keep Moldova’s public television in the broadcast network, and remove the checkpoints installed in 2022.

Transnistria is a breakaway region that declared independence from Moldova after a short war in the early 1990s. The international community does not recognize its self-declared statehood. The region’s de facto government relies on Russia for economic, political, and military support, with Russian troops stationed there.

Previously, the Moldovan government has linked the energy crisis in the Transnistrian region, caused by the suspension of Russian gas supplies, to a broader Russian strategy of manipulation and propaganda.