Moldgres: Money for Transnistria, Ecological Problems for Ukraine and Energy Blackmail for Moldova

MGRES is located on the border with Ukraine, in Transnistria, a territory of the Republic of Moldova that has been under the control of the Russian Federation since 1992. 

This power plant, owned by the Russian company RAO EES, represents an instrument of energy blackmail used by Russia against the Republic of Moldova. Over 70% of Moldova's energy consumption is provided through it. The money paid by the Moldovan authorities for this energy has been used for more than 30 years for the maintenance of the separatist region of Transnistria.

It operates without an environmental authorisation, without a systematic control of the environmental authorities of the Republic of Moldova. At the same time, the local authorities in several Ukrainian villages located near the MGRES accuse several ecological problems caused by the activity of the thermoelectric plant: floods, pollution of agricultural land, air pollution through carbon dioxide emissions that far exceed the permissible norms, destruction of the aquatic ecosystem . In the Ukrainian village of Gradinita, the incidence of cancer cases has increased due to the MGRES waste deposit.

In addition to the ecological problems, the refusal of the MGRES administration to contribute to the solution of the environmental problems it generates causes exaggerated expenses for the budget of the Ukrainian town halls. For example, the village of Cuciurgani spends a third of the local budget for the maintenance of the MGRES water pumping station.