Günther Oettinger, Victor Ponta, Iurie Leancă jointly inaugurated the launch of Romanian-Moldavian gas pipeline works

27-8-2013 — /EuropaWire/ — Commissioner for Energy Günther Oettinger, Prime-Minister of Romania Victor Ponta and the Prime-Minister of the Republic of Moldova Iurie Leancă, will today jointly inaugurate the launch of the works for the realisation of the gas interconnector between Ungheni (West of Moldova) and Iaşi (East of Romania). The ceremony will be held at the bank of the River Prut near Ungheni at 13 hours Brussels time or 14 hours Moldova time.

Günther Oettinger, EU Commissioner for Energy said today: “This is a historic day – we are celebrating that Moldova will be directly connected to the EU gas market. This will enhance its energy security and reduce its dependence from the only supplier it has now.”

The 42 km long interconnector is the first and only direct gas pipeline connecting Moldova and the EU. The “Ungheni-Iaşi pipeline” will have a maximum transportation capacity of 1 billion m3/annually, covering around 1/3 of the gas consumption in Moldavia. In conjunction with compressors and a new 130-km-long-pipeline to be built, the new gas interconnector will deliver gas to the capital Chisinau. For the very first time in history, Moldova will be able to get gas directly from the EU and international markets. Until now, Moldova is 100% dependent on imported natural gas from Russia and has no domestic gas production.

The Commission has already approved a € 7 million grant in the framework of the EU European Neighbourhood Policy Instrument (ENPI) Cross-border Cooperation (CBC) Programme Romania-Ukraine-Moldova 2007-2013. The Romanian Government has also committed to assist Moldova with 9 Million Euro. Total construction costs amount to € 28 million.

Since 2010, Moldova is member of the “Energy Community” which aims to extend the EU internal energy market to EU neighbours. Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Ukraine and Kosovo are members. The EU aims to integrate these countries to the EU market by legislation but also by connecting them physically to the European energy market.

Contacts :

Nicole Bockstaller (+32 2 295 25 89)
Marlene Holzner (+32 2 296 01 96)