Russia is reportedly planning to deliver gas to Transnistria through the Turkish Stream gas pipeline. Data from the trade platform RBP indicates that South Cyprus-based company Ozbor Enterprises booked 3.1 million cubic meters per day of the pipeline’s capacity for a month on 20 January.
This volume corresponds to the region’s daily gas needs. Transnistria has been grappling with a severe energy crisis, and deliveries are scheduled to begin on 1 February.
Sources from the Kommersant newspaper reveal that various options for supplying gas to Transnistria were considered, but the route through Türkiye emerged as the preferred choice. According to these sources, the plan may cost the region approximately $160 million.
Gas transported via Türkiye could be delivered using the Trans-Balkan gas pipeline. However, during the monthly auction held on 20 January, several critical transit points, such as the Bulgarian-Romanian border (entry point), the Romanian-Ukrainian border (Isakça-Orlovka), and the Romanian-Moldovan border (Yash-Kishinev gas pipeline), were not reserved. Monthly reservation tenders occur on the third Monday of each month, with daily bookings available afterward, though at higher costs.
Ozbor Enterprises operates as an importer and exporter of gas on the Romanian market. Its gas trading operations are managed by Miroslav Stoyanovic, who served as a senior gas trader at Gazprom from 2017 to 2022. The company’s Swiss representative office is headed by Vladimir Petkov, who worked at Sakhalin Energy until 2014 before joining Gazprom Neft.
On 1 January, after Russian gas deliveries through Ukraine were halted, Transnistria’s central heating and hot water systems went offline, triggering power outages and halting almost all industrial operations. Previously, Gazprom supplied around 5.7 million cubic meters of gas per day (2 billion cubic meters annually) to Transnistria. This supply met the region’s needs and powered the Moldovan GRES power plant, which supplied electricity to Chisinau. The cessation of gas supplies led Moldova to purchase electricity from Romania at significantly higher prices.
On 15 January, Transnistrian leader Vadim Krasnoselskiy stated that Russia was prepared to resume gas deliveries as part of humanitarian aid. However, he did not specify the timing or the transportation route.
Kommersant also reported earlier that Moscow planned to purchase 3 million cubic meters of gas daily on the European spot market from January to April. This plan was criticized by the Moldovan president and government, as Moldovan legislation stipulates that only MoldovaGaz is authorized to supply gas to Transnistria. Krasnoselskiy later noted that the region had agreed to procure gas from Moldova.
