The Moscow-controlled breakaway region of Moldova will receive gas as a “humanitarian gesture” from the Kremlin, while the rest of the country will remain cut off after Russia halted supplies on 1 January, citing alleged unpaid debts.
Moldova’s breakaway region of Transnistria will receive gas from Russia as “humanitarian aid,” but the rest of the country will remain cut off from Moscow’s supply, the Kremlin-backed separatist leader Vadim Krasnoselsky said on Wednesday.
Moldova and Transnistria both declared an emergency after Russia cut gas supplies on 1 January, citing an alleged $709 million (€688m) debt for past supplies — an allegation that the Moldovan government has fiercely denied.
However, on Tuesday, Krasnoselsky said that gas supplies to the region would be restored after “negotiations” with the Russian energy ministry. Krasnoselsky explained that supplies would be reinstated to provide Transnistria with “humanitarian and technical assistance,” although he did not give a timeline for when this would happen.
Transnistria, where temperatures often drop to subzero degrees, extended a state of emergency last week after halting gas supplies led to the closure of almost all industrial activity and power cuts of up to eight hours a day.
Moldovan officials declared a state of emergency on Monday, citing fears that gas shortages could trigger a humanitarian crisis in Transnistria, which has claimed unilateral and internationally unrecognised independence following a short war in 1992.
The rest of Moldova, however, looks set to continue suffering from a lack of energy. Gas supplies to the EU candidate country have been halted both because of what Moscow says is unpaid debt and the end of a five-year deal between Ukraine and Russia, which cut the Kremlin’s gas from flowing into Europe through Ukrainian territory.
Energy flow ‘weaponised’
The end of the agreement mainly impacts the Kuciurgan power plant in Transnistria, which generates electricity throughout Moldova. The plant was privatised in 2004 and later sold to a Russian state-owned company — a process Chisinau says was illegal.
In December, Moldovan Prime Minister Dorin Recean said the country faces an “exceptional situation” and accused Moscow of deliberately “weaponising” the flow of energy alongside Ukrainian and EU politicians.
Moldova’s pro-Western government has hit back on claims that it has large unpaid debts to Russian gas giant Gazprom who terminated its contract with Moldovagaz — Moldova’s main gas operator — in which the Russian company owns a majority stake.
The government says, citing British and Norwegian audit firms, that its debt is close to $8.6 million (€8.3m), a fraction of what Gazprom accuses it of owing.
Moldova’s government implemented a series of measures to reduce energy consumption starting on 1 January, including limiting lighting in public and commercial buildings by at least 30% and energy-intensive businesses operating during off-peak hours.
Recean also said the country was pursuing diversification of natural gas supplies to reduce its dependence on the Kuciurgan plant.
