Central Europe, Moldova to be affected most from termination of gas transit by Ukraine

Alexey Belogoryev, Research and Development Director of the Institute for Energy and Finance, commented to TASS on the consequences of stopping Ukrainian gas transit for the main gas consuming countries.

"From Romania there is only one direct gas pipeline Iasi-Ungheni-Chisinau with the capacity of 1.5 bln cubic meters per year. Even in the event of maximum utilization, which is not expected soon, it can only cover around 50% of Moldova’s annual consumption. All the remaining alternatives are connected with transit through Ukraine, including the employment in the reverse flow of the Trans-Balkan gas pipeline (prior to 2020 Gazprom transported gas through it to Turkey and the Balkan countries)," Belogoryev said, adding that for Moldova the termination of transit even for a week means an unprecedented total energy crisis.