Russia and Romania Terminated the Gas Transit Contract

Bucharest and Chisinau will continue to receive it, but according to different schemes. Moscow and Bucharest terminated the contract for the Russian gas transit through the territory of Romania by mutual agreement of the parties. It was originally planned that the agreement will be valid until the end of 2023. As a result, Bucharest can now use its infrastructure to transport fuel. Moldova will be able to receive the same Russian gas, but from Romania, Izvestia informed. According to the former Minister of Energy of Romania Razvan Nicolescu, there is nothing surprising in the termination of the agreement between Moscow and Bucharest. “It was expected. Termination of this agreement is not a problem for Transgaz if other gas flows through the pipeline. If the pipeline remains empty, some of the income will be lost. I hope that solutions will be found to use this infrastructure,” he explained. The fact is that earlier Bucharest, under an agreement with Gazprom, transported Russian gas through pipeline branches T1, T2 and T3. Now, as noted by the Romanian authorities, "other countries can reserve capacities on these transit gas pipelines." Gas entered Romania in transit through Ukraine (this route is considered one of the least attractive for Russian gas supplies to Europe) for further pumping to southern European countries: Bulgaria, Greece, North Macedonia and Turkey. However, after the Turkish Stream was launched, the need for this disappeared: the transit through Romania actually did not go. It turned out that the new route is cheaper and, moreover, is devoid of serious geopolitical risks. The Romanian authorities imply that now the country can pump gas from the Turkish Stream into them and supply it to Moldova and Ukraine. - The agreement was terminated by mutual agreement, in the presence of representatives of the European Commission, since the transit of gas through the territory of Ukraine becomes simply unprofitable. Turkish Stream is more profitable in this regard. It's all pricing policy. At the same time, both parties agreed to develop other projects in the oil and gas sector. Romania, like other European countries, receives gas via a shorter and more profitable route,” Sergei Lavrenov said, head of Transdniestrian and Moldovan Department of the Institute of CIS Countries, in a conversation with Izvestia. In turn, a senior researcher at the IMEMO named after E. Primakov RAS, RIAC expert Dmitry Ofitserov-Belsky points out that the strategic goals of Russia and Romania have been transformed over a long period of time. - It would be premature to say that decisive changes have already taken place, but they will happen. A powerful comma is supplied. Russia seeks to get rid of transit through Ukraine. In January, a minimum of gas pumping through Ukraine was recorded since the collapse of the USSR, the political scientist noted. Bucharest claims they will provide Moldovans with an alternative to Russian gas. However, while the pipe is empty. According to experts, at best, gas will flow through it in 2022. This is due to the technical unwillingness of Bucharest to supply such volumes of blue fuel, and to the high price of gas from Romania: Bucharest buys Russian gas, and this will only increase the price. In addition, the infrastructure is not ready. Romania, on its side, should complete and launch the Onesti-Geraesti-Lecani branch, as well as build two compressor stations. In addition, the new gas pipeline does not reach Transdniestria, the political scientist emphasizes. “Transdniestria is not ready to receive gas from Romania. The pipe has been extended to Chisinau, but not to Moldavskaya GRES located on the territory of Transdniestria,” Officers-Belsky said. The expert notes that there are still many issues to be resolved. In 2024, the contract concluded between Moscow and Kiev for the pumping of transit gas through the territory of Ukraine ends. “Russia will most likely declare that there is no point in pumping gas through Ukraine and will not do this anymore. Europe will have to come to terms with this,” the political scientist believes. Bucharest expects they will unify their gas transportation infrastructure with the Moldovan one; there are also plans to completely unify the infrastructure for the transmission of electricity. Although de jure there are two states, in fact, from the economic and infrastructural point of view, Romania seeks to tie Moldova to itself.