“The Romanian segment of the pipeline has been completed and the Moldovan segment will be ready by August 15,” Nicolescu told Mediafax reporters. “The first gas deliveries will be technically possible starting with August 25, give or take a few days.”
The Iasi-Ungheni pipeline will be 43.2 kilometers long, of which 32.8 kilometers on Romanian territory. The pipeline will have an annual capacity of 1.5 billion to 2 billion cubic meters of natural gas.
Romania produces around 11 billion of cubic meters of natural gas a year, while its imports from Russia amount to 2.5 billion to 3 billion cubic meters a year.
Its neighbor Moldova, a former Soviet Union member, imports 1.1 billion of cubic meters of gas annually from Russia. Including the breakaway region Transnistria, annual gas imports rise to around 2.1 billion cubic meters.