The authorities of the separatist Moldovan Republic of Transnistria cut off gas supply to some state institutions last night after an agreement allowing transit of crude oil from Russia through Ukraine likely to expire at year-end, the Associated Press reported, quoted by BTA.
The cutoff comes two days before the transit agreement expires after Ukraine refused to uphold it amid the war. This has heightened fears of a massive power outage in Moldova, which is sandwiched between Ukraine and Romania.
The company that distributes gas to the pro-Russian separatist region, “Tiraspoltransgaz“, said 12 state institutions in the towns of Dubashary and Bender, located on the border with the rest of Moldova, were without power, including four educational institutions and a hospital, as well as a police station and a prosecutor's office.
The outage came a day after Russian energy giant “Gazprom“ announced that it would halt gas exports to Moldova on the morning of January 1 due to unpaid debts from Chisinau.
Moldova denies this and in turn accuses Russia of destabilizing the country.
Russia supplies about two billion cubic meters of gas a year, which pass through Ukraine and Transnistria, where a thermal power plant produces cheap electricity that is sold to government-controlled parts of Moldova.
“The Kremlin's real goal is to destabilize Moldova and drag it into chaos,“ former Moldovan Energy Minister Victor Perlikov told National Radio. He was removed from his post after failing to address the energy crisis after meeting with Gazprom management last month.
Moscow rejects the accusations from Chisinau.
Both Moldova and Transnistria have declared a state of emergency in the economic sphere, including measures to reduce energy consumption during peak hours.
Moldova's Prime Minister Dorin Recan condemned Gazprom's decision before completely halting Russian gas exports via Ukraine, also destined for Slovakia, Austria, Hungary and Italy.
Moldova called on Gazprom to to consider other routes for supplying the country, in particular via the “Turkish Stream“ pipeline passing through Bulgaria and Romania.
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, who met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin last week, criticized Kiev for refusing to extend the agreement.
Foreign Minister Juraj Blanar rejected Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's accusation that Fico was opening a “second energy front“ against Kiev.