MOLDOVA SHOULD BUY NATURAL GAS WHERE IT IS CHEAPER - ROMANIAN EX-PREMIER

Former Prime Minister of Romania Victor Ponta gave an interview to TVR-Moldova channel on Tuesday, saying that the question of natural gas procurement should not be politicized and that Moldova should buy the blue fuel from the source where the price is lower.

"I never said that Moldova should buy gas only from Romania. It should buy it where it is cheaper, as well as where it is safer. If it is cheaper in Russia - buy from there. However, there should be an alternative anyway. If you have just one supplier, you depend on it all the time", Ponta said.

Talking about the Iasi-Ungheni gas pipeline, the building of which started in the period of Victor Ponta's governance, the former premier expressed regret that this infrastructural project was moving with great difficulty.

"It was moving slowly in 2016-2017. This was because of Romania, but not Moldova. Back then there were internal discrepancies in Bucharest, the governments were changing. Now, we overcame all the difficulties, all the engineering and building contracts have been signed. I hope that soon, Chisinau will be receiving gas not only from the East, but from the West as well", Ponta said.

In November, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Romania to Moldova Daniel Ionita said to journalists that the Iasi-Ungheni-Chisinau gas pipeline will be launched by the end of 2019.

"There are several stages that should be taken into account. The entire process of building should completely meet European standards. An auction was organized and due to few candidates it was extended. Everything will be completed in accordance with the undertaken liabilities", Ionita said.

According to him, the company that will bring the Romanian gas to Chisinau has to invest in the project around 100 million euros.

In his turn, the Moldovan premier Pavel Filip stated last week that before the end of 2019, Moldova will have an alternative to the Russian gas, which will cover 100% of country needs in natural gas.

"One of ambitious projects we have is the connecting to the European gas system by means of Romania. The project is quite difficult, but the Romanian company Transgaz and the Romanian Minister of European Funds agreed to finance it. Unfortunately, this project is lasting slightly more than I expected. I thought we will conclude it by the end of the year or by early 2019, but it will be concluded throughout the 2019", Filip said.