Minister: Hungarian gas company will supply Transdniestria

Peter Szijjarto, the Hungarian foreign minister, said that a Hungarian trading company would provide natural gas to Transdniestria in Moldova after a request by Russia's energy ministry.

Transdniestria residents, a tiny sliver run by pro Russian separatists on the border of Moldova and Ukraine, faced an energy crisis after the expiration of a transit agreement that allowed Russian natural gas to be shipped via Ukraine.

Szijjarto said that the Russian deputy premier responsible for energy had contacted him about gas supply and that he also discussed this issue with his Moldovan colleague.

Szijjarto didn't specify which Hungarian company would supply the gas, and the Ministry did not respond immediately to questions emailed about the agreement.

The end of January, the Moldovan prime minister Dorin Recean announced that the European Union would provide 30 million euro ($31.4million) for the purchase and transportation of natural gas into Transdniestria. He also stated that MOL Hungarian Company intended to sign a deal with Moldovagaz in order to supply gas to Transdniestria.

The separatist authorities of Transdniestria announced this month that they had begun receiving gas under a loan from Moscow and that the Swiss MET Group subsidiary MET Gas and Energy Marketing AG, which is based in Switzerland, signed a short term agreement in February to supply gas Moldovagaz. ($1 = 0.9556 euros)

(source: Reuters)