[ValveCoverGasket]

Looks like the spacer is for use in a different after market application maybe a different version of the V6 TDI engine ?. I cant see any reason for it on your car but others may know better

x2
this would be my guess as well

do you have the old tensioner? would be a quick measurement of the total stack height of the original one v your new one w/ and w/o the spacer to see which orientation is correct

edit - the shady russian parts catalog sites have been down for me the last couple days, otherwise id check the catalog and see if they show the spacer ...

 

[ValveCoverGasket]

You can't rely on those shady ruski stuff....

haha 7zap seems to be perpetually throwing SQL errors, and nemiga has been periodically not loading the last few days.
it just worked now though, lets see...