The key elements in this are the unusual arrangements for both gas supply and energy generation between Moldova proper and Transnistria. Both territories receive Gazprom gas by pipeline, and for both the gas is billed via the Gazprom-Moldovagaz contract (Moldovagaz is 50% controlled by Gazprom). But while Moldova pays for its gas, Transnistria’s is nominally added to the circa $709 million debt of Moldovagas, a sum which is disputed and whose repayment prospects are modest and which is also disputed.
Since Maia Sandu came to power as Moldova’s president in 2021 the country has reduced its dependence on this source. But what has not changed is that Transnistria’s gas is effectively free and is used to power the 2,500 MW MGRES power station. Moldova also relies on MGRES for around 80% of its electricity, illustrating the strange interdependency between the otherwise hostile entities.
This free energy serves as a subsidy from Moscow to keep Transnistria’s obsolete, polluting and inefficient heavy industries in business; these include chemicals, steel and cement. It also allows for very cheap domestic gas, helping to shore up popular support for the local regime.
The scale of this subsidy can be seen in the strikingly disproportionate gas consumption of the two entities, according to Moldovan government information supplied to the author: Transnistria (population 300,000) consumes circa 2 billion cubic metres (bcm)/year, while Moldova proper (population 2.5 million) consumes circa 1 bcm/year. At the point of delivery, Transnistria is receiving around 16 times as much gas per capita as Moldova. (This figure is, however, offset by the fact that some of Transnistria’s gas generates electricity in the MGRES plant, which is then sold to Moldova.) Whether this situation will continue far into 2025 is unclear, as Ukraine has refused to renew its gas transit agreement with Gazprom.
For now, it provides a near-perfect environment for Bitcoin mining. Given the existence of substantial power capacity at the MGRES power station and the access to free natural gas, the incentive to engage in Bitcoin mining is clear. Legislation was adopted in Transnistria in 2018 to provide a clear legal basis for the accelerated development of cryptocurrency mining.
In 2019 there was substantial publicity for a state-backed mining enterprise zone named ‘Tehnopark OJSC’, which was intended to attract foreign miners, offering electricity at $0.043 per kWh. This is an extremely competitive rate; in 2024 Kazakhstan offered $0.073 per kWh and the US $0.127 per kWh, according to research by BestBrokers.com. While we do not have a reliable current figure, the fact that Transnistria receives free gas means that the figure is likely to be among the cheapest in the world.
The current power consumption for one Bitcoin is 854,403 kWh according to BestBrokers.com (this figure has risen substantially in recent years thanks to changes in the mathematical basis of mining). Using the figures above, this implies an electricity cost per Bitcoin of $36,739 in Transnistria, compared to a Bitcoin price of circa $97,000. The corresponding figure for Kazakhstan is $62,371 and for the US it is $108,509. (Note that this US figure is a national average; miners are likely to operate in states with cheaper power.)
However, there has been very little further reporting since 2019 and the website is no longer live, although it was running as late as 2022. This does not mean that Bitcoin mining has ceased in Transnistria, but rather reflects the fact that international miners (bar Russians) did not flock to Tiraspol as hoped. As a result, and factoring in wartime conditions and the need for discretion, there is no need to court publicity.
Reporting by the Moldovan NGO Anticoruptie indicates that the main mining players are Goweb International Limited and Tirastel GmbH.
Although it is claimed that Western investors are involved, the ‘investors’ are largely Russian and connected to Gazprom (to benefit from some of the gas grant that Gazprom provides to Transnistria).
Goweb International Limited is an interesting example. Anticoruptie reports that in January 2018 the BVI entity Goweb International Ltd spent $8.7 million on crypto mining equipment for delivery to Transnistria, routing the funds through ABLV Bank in Latvia. The following month, the US Treasury Financial Crimes Enforcement Network targeted ABLV on the basis of ‘institutionalized money laundering’ linked to ‘Azerbaijan, Russia, and Ukraine’. ABLV was also central to the 2016 ‘Laundromat’ scandal in which $1 billion was stolen from Moldovan banks.
