Page 10 - FSUOGM Week 18

FSUOGM PIPELINES & TRANSPORT FSUOGM
Moldova ready to import gas from Romania by year-end
MOLDOVA
The Ungheni-Chisinau pipeline is now 90% complete.
CONSTRUCTION works on Moldova’s key Ungheni-Chisinau pipeline are 90% completed and the project can be commissioned in the sec- ond half of the year, announced Iulian Butnaru, the manager of Vestmoldtransgaz, the company that will manage the pipeline that brings gas from the border with Romania to the industri- alised area around Chisinau.
is is good news both for Moldova, which sees its gas supply sources diversi ed — cur- rently, Moldova buys 100% of the gas it con- sumes from Gazprom — and for Romania’s gas producers that gain potential customers at a time when domestic consumption is shrinking.
e pipeline is being built by Romanian gas transport company Transgaz, which also owns Vestmoldtransgaz.
e Ungheni-Chisinau gas pipeline will be approximately 120km long. It will be able to supply Moldova with about 1.5bn cubic metres (bcm) of gas annually, which will fully cover Moldova’s needs.
Out of the 120km of the pipeline, 106km have already been completed. The administrative
office of Vestmoldtransgaz, which will mon- itor the gas system, is also almost ready for commissioning.
“From the beginning of 2019 until now, works have been carried out on all seven segments of the project. e estimated value of the project is €76mn according to the draft estimates of expenditure within the project documentation prepared by Transgaz,” said Vestmoldtransgaz’s manager.
At the beginning of 2018, Romania’s Transgaz acquired Vestmoldtransgaz through its subsidi- ary Eurotransgaz. e value of the transaction amounted to MDL180mn (€9mn). e Roma- nian company has also committed to investing at least €93mn in the construction of the gas pipe- line within two years.
Previously, Moldova and Romania built the 43-km-long Iasi-Ungheni cross-border main gas pipeline, which was put into operation in 2014 in order to reduce Moldova’s dependence on Gaz- prom. e construction of the gas pipeline cost €26.5mn, of which 80% was paid for by Roma- nian and European partners. ™
P10
w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m
Week 18 06•May•2020