Transnistria’s debt for gas is equal to the total external debt of Moldova

Thus, the gas debt of the Transnistrian region has risen to a new record level and reached a huge figure of 9.4-9.5 billion dollars, whereof about 8.5 billion dollars are owed to Gazprom, and almost a billion dollars are owed to Factoring Finance, a company affiliated with the Russian concern. It is impossible to establish the exact amount of the debt, because Gazprom has not published relevant information or financial statements for about a year. Similarly, the Transnistrian Region has limited the information made public. Available data show that the region’s gas debt exceeded the total external debt of the Republic of Moldova, which at the end of last year was 9.46 billion dollars, whereof only one third was public debt. Such a significant increase in non-payment for gas by Transnistria is due to the increase in prices by Gazprom. Consequently, last year the value of methane imports to Transnistria amounted to 1.62 billion dollars, which is 2.6 times more than in 2021. In 2022, gas imports accounted for about 50% of all foreign trade reported by the Tiraspol authorities, and almost 91% of all trade with the Russian Federation. Though, the region practically does not pay a penny for these volumes of gas. The only payment made in 2022, which was announced publicly, was about USD 5 million paid for additional volumes of gas reserved and delivered through the Ukrainian transport system and delivered to the left bank of the Dniester River. Note that officially the gas networks and the Tiraspoltransgas enterprise in Transnistria are part of the Moldovagaz Group, but they enjoy enormous benefits from Gazprom on methane payments based on certain specifications of the contract signed between Moldovagaz and Gazprom.