The influence of a dense plasma environment on electron tunnelling between two ion potential wells in collectivized states and in charge-transfer collisions is studied. We show that the tunnelling probabilities in dilute plasma (in a close ion–ion collision) and in dense plasma differ strongly. The difference is due to the mixing between Stark components of donor-ion energy levels, caused by the field of spectator ions in a dense plasma. The mixing is determined by an angle α between the nearest-neighbour ion field and the total electric field acting on the donor ion. In close ion–ion binary collisions the mixing may be considered weak. However, for most plasma ions charge transfer, electron state collectivization and transient quasimolecule formation are strongly affected by the field of spectator ions. We derive approximate analytical expressions for the distribution function of α in an ideal plasma and perform molecular dynamics simulations to find the distribution function of α in both ideal and nonideal plasmas. Both α-dependent and average mixing coefficients are determined. We have found that the mixing is strong, even in ideal plasmas, and increases further with an increase in plasma nonideality. It is shown that there is no resonant charge transfer in dense plasmas. The applicability of a transient 'dicenter' quasimolecule model for dense plasmas is discussed.