Romania no longer depends on Russian natural gas and is preparing to permanently stop importing supplies from Moscow, an energy ministry official announced.
Marius Posha, a secretary of state at the Romanian Ministry of Energy, said that domestic and regional supplies are now sufficient to meet the country's needs. His remarks were reported by the Russian news agency TASS.
Posha stressed that Bucharest is not waiting for the end of the conflict in Ukraine to resume buying gas from Russia. Instead, the country is actively making arrangements to discontinue the use of Russian gas altogether.
The state secretary acknowledged that it remains impossible to predict how the broader regional situation will unfold. He noted that officials cannot foresee how current events will conclude or what new sanctions might be introduced in the future.
Regional energy supplies
Despite those uncertainties, Posha said that the gas resources currently available to Romania in the region are enough to ensure stability. Because of those reserves, he explained, the country has broken its reliance on Russian energy deliveries and can manage without them.
Romania is one of the few European Union member states with substantial domestic natural gas production. Unlike many of its neighbours in Eastern Europe that relied almost entirely on Russian pipelines, Romania produces a large share of its own gas from onshore fields and offshore deposits in the Black Sea.
The European Union has pushed member nations to diversify energy suppliers and reduce purchases from Moscow following the outbreak of war in Ukraine. Romania has invested in expanding its pipeline interconnectors with neighbouring countries to strengthen regional energy security across the Balkans.
Exports to neighbouring markets
Romania's energy position is also opening opportunities to supply other nations in the region. In late May, it emerged that neighbouring Hungary was considering a move to import Romanian gas to replace its own Russian supplies over the next few years.
Hungary remains heavily reliant on Russian gas delivered through southeastern Europe. Securing alternative supplies from Romania would allow Budapest to diversify its imports and reduce its vulnerability to potential supply disruptions.
