Moldova inaugurated a new electricity transmission line on Sunday aimed at strengthening its connection to Romania and the European grid while reducing its dependence on Russian energy, Al Jazeera reported.

The line runs from Vulcanesti to the capital, Chisinau, and allows Moldova to reduce its reliance on the Cuciurgan thermal power plant in the pro-Moscow separatist region of Transnistria, according to the report.

At the inauguration in Chisinau, President Maia Sandu said the project would strengthen electricity transmission capacity, diversify supplies and reinforce Moldova’s connection to the European energy system.

“For decades, Moscow used energy to blackmail us,” Sandu wrote on X on Sunday. “No more: Moldova buys zero Russian gas,” she added.

Moldova previously received most of its gas from Russia through Transnistria and pipelines running through Ukraine, Al Jazeera reported. The country of 2.6 million people lies between Romania and Ukraine.

Dubbed the “energy independence line,” the project opened two years later than authorities had initially promised. Sandu said two more power lines to Romania were on the way.

Sources