BUCHAREST – Moldova will receive an EU grant to interconnect its electricity networks with Romania, with PM Dorin Recean stressing that the EU is helping Chișinău avoid energy blackmail from Russia.

The €15.4 million grant agreement was signed on Thursday by Prime Minister Dorin Recean, the head of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) office in Chișinău, Catarina Bjorlin Hansen, and the interim general director of Moldelectrica, Sergiu Aparatu.

EBRD’s support represents 20% co-financing of the 400 kV overhead power line project between the Moldovan city of Bălți and the Romanian city of Suceava.

Recean stressed the importance of access to European energy markets, saying that the European Union’s support will help Moldova avoid energy blackmail by Russia and strengthen its energy security, reports Moldpres.md.

“Today, we have light and heat thanks to our partners and the fact that, for the past four years, the government has taken active, strategic steps that have freed us from blackmail and dependency,” said the Moldovan prime minister.

The interconnection lines with Romania will ensure “independent electricity supplies from the European market,” Recean added.

The total cost of the Moldova-Romania electricity interconnection project, now in its second phase, is €77 million. Previously, the EBRD and the European Investment Bank each contributed €30.8 million to complete the project by December 2027.

Since 1 January 2025, Moldova, including the pro-Russian breakaway region of Transnistria, has been struggling to cope with the end of gas supplies from Russia’s Gazprom, plunging the country into a new energy crisis.

So far, Moldova has avoided blackouts thanks to significant electricity imports from neighbouring Romania.

But Romania’s electricity could be cut off at any time, warned Marcela Lefter, CEO of Sedera, a Romanian renewable energy company operating in Moldova.

“The interconnector bringing power from Romania goes straight to a hub in Transnistria,” Lefter told Euractivrecently, referring to Moldova’s breakaway region, which has strong ties with Moscow.

(Catalina Mihai | Euractiv.ro)

Source: Euractiv.com