The Russian giant Gazprom threatened Tuesday to reduce its gas deliveries to Moldova by accusing Ukraine of siphoning off the gas pipeline which passes through its territory, a claim denied by the Ukrainian gas operator. “The volume of gas supplied by Gazprom at the Sudja crossing point for transiting to Moldova via the territory of Ukraine (in reality) exceeds the volume” that reaches the border between Ukraine and Moldova, lamented the gas giant, owned by the Russian state.
According to Gazprom, Ukraine illegally accumulated 52.5 million cubic meters of gas in November by “raping” part of the deliveries to use for its own purposes.
Gazprom threatens to cut supply
The Russian giant thus threatened to “reduce the gas supply at the Soudja crossing point (…) from November 28 at 10 a.m.”, if kyiv continued to siphon gas to other countries. This threat comes as temperatures have dropped in recent days in Europe, increasing the demand for gas to be able to heat in particular.
For its part, the Ukrainian gas operator (GTSOU) said in a statement that “all gas volumes” arriving from Russia to Chisinau had “been transferred in their entirety” to the two crossing points entering Moldova. “This is not the first time that Russia has used gas as an instrument of political pressure,” lamented Olga Bielkova, director of government and international affairs at GTSOU.
Moldova bears the brunt of the consequences of the conflict
Russia was the EU’s biggest gas supplier before Moscow’s military intervention in Ukraine in February, but the EU27 have since greatly reduced their imports, to less than 10% of all gas imported, according to Brussels. Moldova, a small country of 2.6 million inhabitants neighboring Ukraine, is bearing the brunt of the consequences of the conflict in Ukraine, particularly in terms of energy, while Gazprom has already halved its gas exports to Chisinau .
On Monday, the international community announced new aid to Moldova, including 100 million euros from France.