Moldova’s separatist Transdniestria region says it needs more gas

Moldova’s pro-Russian separatist region of Transdniestria has said it needs more Russian natural gas to operate its industry as supply and cost emerge as election issues in the ex-Soviet state.
Moldova, one of Europe’s poorest countries, long depended on Russia for gas but last year met its needs from European markets, leaving all available gas from Russian giant Gazprom for the breakaway eastern region.
The country’s pro-European president, Maia Sandu, who denounces Russia’s war in Ukraine, has applauded the switch to European gas as an element in her drive to abandon the country’s Soviet legacy and join the European Union. She is running for re-election in an poll scheduled for late 2024.
Transdniestria, on Ukraine’s western border, split from Moldova before the 1991 Soviet collapse and fought a brief war against the newly independent state, but has remained on its eastern fringe without turmoil for three decades.
The war, which Russia launched in February 2022, has limited Gazprom’s daily supplies to 5.7 million cubic metres.