The European Union has announced €30mn targeted support to Moldova, including the Transnistrian region to finance the purchase and transportation of natural gas for the region that is facing an acute energy crisis "provoked by Gazprom", a European Commission statement said on January 27.

The targeted support will restore electricity and heat supply in the region and also enable the supply of electricity to the entire country, the EU's statement reads.

Since January 1, 2025, Gazprom has failed to fulfil its contractual obligations to supply gas to Moldova, citing a historic $709mn claim not recognized by the authorities in Chisinau. As a result, the separatist Transnistria region — the recipient of the natural gas — is forced to rely on coal and gas reserves to provide the population with electricity and heat, which are insufficient to meet needs. The rest of the country is paying higher electricity prices, as costly emergency imports are made from Romania.

The €30mn grant is designed as a short-term fix to secure the energy supply in Moldova, particularly Transnistria, until February 10. The size of the grant amounts to roughly half of the money Transnistria needs over a month to buy gas for basic needs (heating, electricity), without resuming industrial activity or electricity exports to Moldova.

"Today's proposal represents a targeted support to Moldova, including the Transnistrian region, of €30mn to purchase gas which can be used to produce electricity and heating for the Transnistrian region and electricity to the Right Bank. Through the funding provided under this emergency plan, gas could be purchased by Moldova from providers in Ukraine and the European market," the EU statement said.

“In the middle of winter, more than three hundred fifty thousand residents in the Transnistrian region are left in the dark and in the cold because Russia decided to stop its gas deliveries. We simply cannot accept that people on our continent do not have access to the most basic services. But hard times reveal true friends. That is why we are throwing today a lifeline. We will deliver gas to the people of Transnistria and restore their access to electricity and heating," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said.

Moldova’s Prime Minister Dorin Recean announced that as part of the EU-backed support package to Moldova, 3mn cubic metres of natural gas would be sent immediately to Transnistria to maintain the pressure in the transport and distribution network and avoid accidents. 

A longer-term support plan will be designed by the European Commission with the authorities in Chisinau over the coming two weeks to consolidate Moldova’s energy resilience. The elements of the plan are still to be established, but coal from Ukraine and the transport of natural gas through the Trans-Balkan pipeline through Bulgaria and Romania were mentioned in the EC’s statement.

"This plan has two basic components: firstly, the necessary investments in both the production and distribution of electricity to ensure that we have electricity and cannot be blackmailed; and secondly, measures to reduce electricity tariffs for all citizens of the Republic of Moldova. This complete program is to be finalised in the coming weeks and we will come up with a public announcement with concrete amounts, as it unfolds," Recean said.