Talk:Tiraspoltransgas

Ownership

The information is confusing. The article claims that the major shareholder of Tiraspoltransgas is Gazprom. At the same time The Tiraspol Times says that "Tiraspoltransgas has announced that it will leave Moldovagaz and transfer its shares and assets to Gazprom, followed by the creation of a joint venture on the basis of Tiraspoltransgas." I understand that will leave means that it's still subsidiary of Moldovagaz? And who are the parties creating a joint venture? From the article I understood that one party is (or will be) Gazprom. But there is no Tiraspoltransgas at the list of subsidiaries of Gazprom (same applies to Gazprombank in Tiraspol)? [1], [2] The latest news at the Gazprom website concerning gas supplies to Moldova doesn't give any detail of the deal. [3]. The homepage of Tiraspoltransgas says about ownership that "..."Тираспольтрансгаз" как самостоятельное лицо в составе Министерства промышленности и энергетики." I understand this means that company is under Ministry of Energy? I hope somebody is able to clarify the ownership structure of Tiraspoltransgas.Beagel 11:31, 30 December 2006 (UTC)

Beagel, I am not really the expert here, and the situation is still somewhat fluid. Hopefully someone else can fill in the blanks. Tiraspoltransgas was initially a subsidiary of Moldovagaz, but its shares, as I understand it, were owned by Gazprom (the majority, just over 50%), the PMR government (a smaller block), and Moldova or Moldovagaz. There was some cross ownership. Tiraspoltransgas owned 13.44% of Moldovagas, which it passed to Gazprom in 2005. This came about because originally, in early 2005, PMR wanted to nationalize Tiraspoltransgas, and there was a row with Russia over this. Maybe it was real, or maybe it was just a negotiating gambit. I can not say. In the end, Tiraspoltransgas and Gazprom moved closer, and sidelined Moldovagaz. The agreement was that Moldovagaz would transfer its shares to Gazprom, as I understand it, and no longer be part of the picture. Earlier gas deals for PMR were always signed with Moldovagaz, but the latest (the agreement for 2007) is done directly between Tiraspoltransgas and Gazprom. Kommersant has written about this, so that would be a good place to start your research. If your company will let you spend money on this, the best report on the subject is this: http://www.ignatov.biz/acatalog/tiraspoltransgaz.html

Caveat: Beware of information which you find on the internet from Moldovan or Romanian sources on this subject, as it is likely to be wrong. For instance, there is an impressive looking website which bears the OSCE logo (but it is not produced by the OSCE, and the OSCE has no editorial influence on the content). It is called conflict.md and on November 2 of this year, it reported that Tiraspoltransgas was owned by the "Sheriff" company. Nothing could be further from the truth. It is an example of either disinformation or just plain brute ignorance of the reality in Transnistria to claim something like that. - Mauco 17:50, 30 December 2006 (UTC)

Thanx Mauco. I am not very familiar with Tiraspoltransgas nor Moldovagaz affairs and I asked just for curiosity. I was confused because the information by different sources was little bit controversial. I knew that the transfer of Tiraspoltransgas was an issue during last year negotiations. However, in June Mr Ryazanov of Gazprom said that the transfer issue is still not solved.[4] So, I thought that this was decided during negotiations at the end of this year, but as I said I was not able to find any detailed information about gas delivery contracts to Moldova and Transnistria and how the debts issue was solved. As for this article, I think this ownership transfer issue is worth to add into article (probably there should be "History" section or something like this). I hope somebody who knew this issue better will do this.Beagel 18:57, 30 December 2006 (UTC)

Yes, I agree. The whole point of a stub is that others can/should add to it. That was why I created it. I wanted others to find it and help expand it. Now, since I did not know the details of ownership, I was deliberately vague on that point. If you read the article today, it merely says (in its current version): "The majority shareholder is Russia's Gazprom." This has always been true, AFAIK, whether directly or indirectly. I did not add percentages or other details of ownership. I know that we can source all the specifics, and the easiest way to do it would be to blow a few hundred dollars on it. In my own case, I am currently Moldova-specialist for a media product which is owned by a large U.S. corporation (listed on NYSE) so they have the bucks, but I don't have the authority to spend their money on this, and I sure as heck won't be using my own funds. Over time, however, I am sure that Wikipedia will come to the rescue. At least now that the stub is started, you found it. So will others. Some of them will have information to add. Please go ahead and add to it, too, Beagel. - Mauco 19:59, 30 December 2006 (UTC)